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Take Two

Is Kim Jong Un's aunt, Kim Kyong Hui, calling the shots in North Korea?

By Take Two Staff
Published Apr 24, 2013
In this undated file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed by the Korea News Service on Dec. 17, 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's son, Kim Jong Un, second row right, rides on an escalator with his aunt Kim Kyong Hui, bottom, her husband Jang Song Thaek, second man behind Kim Jong Un, and others when they visit a Pyongyang supermarket with his father. During a Workers' Party conference Wednesday, April 11, 2012 in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un was named first secretary of the party, a post that is newly created and that analysts believe is now the top Workers' Party job. Kim Kyong Hui, 66, the younger sister of late leader Kim, was named a secretary of the party's Central Committee while Soviet-trained technocrat Jang, 66, a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, was named a member of the Political Bureau. v
In this undated file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed by the Korea News Service on Dec. 17, 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's son, Kim Jong Un, second row right, rides on an escalator with his aunt Kim Kyong Hui, bottom, her husband Jang Song Thaek, second man behind Kim Jong Un, and others when they visit a Pyongyang supermarket with his father. During a Workers' Party conference Wednesday, April 11, 2012 in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un was named first secretary of the party, a post that is newly created and that analysts believe is now the top Workers' Party job. Kim Kyong Hui, 66, the younger sister of late leader Kim, was named a secretary of the party's Central Committee while Soviet-trained technocrat Jang, 66, a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, was named a member of the Political Bureau. v
(
Anonymous/AP
)

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

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Is Kim Jong Un's aunt, Kim Kyong Hui, calling the shots in North Korea?

Kim Jong Un came into power in North Korea after the 2011 death of his father, Kim Jong-il, but in a recent article for The Atlantic, journalist Donald Kirk suggests that Kim Jong Un may not actually be calling the shots. 

He writes that Kim's aunt, Kim Kyong Hui, is actually running the show from behind the scenes. Interestingly, Hui's rise parallels that of the South Korean president Park Geun Hye. 

Donald Kirk joins the show to explain.