“Tensions with the United States are running as close to as an all time high, as you can imagine, so he’s going to want to continue consolidating power,” Kazanis told CNBC’s “The Rundown” on Monday. “He doesn’t want any danger of a coup or internal instability.”
Prior to the announcement of Kim’s appointment on Saturday, President Donald Trump issued yet another threat to the isolated state, via Twitter.
Years of diplomacy and financial incentives failed to sway the regime but “only one thing will work,” Trump said on Twitter, hinting at the prospect of military action.
Kim Yo Jong has long held senior positions in the Workers’ Party, with media reports previously referring to her as vice director of the propaganda department.
Her promotion is “part of a continual shake-up Kim Jong Un is doing,” Kazanis continued. “He doesn’t want to keep the same people his father had in place.”
In recent years, some immediate family members who might have been deemed threatening to the regime have been killed.
Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, who had publicly spoken out against the Kim family’s dynastic control, was assassinated in dramatic fashion last year, while the ruler’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, was executed in 2013.
