"'Kim Jong-un's Shadow' Jo Yong-won, Performing the First New Year's Schedule for 5 Consecutive Years"

Unification Research Institute Current Issues Report

It has been revealed that Jo Yong-won, the Party Organization Secretary known as the 'shadow of Kim Jong-un,' has accompanied Kim Jong-un on his first New Year's schedule for five consecutive years.

According to the current affairs report by the Institute for Unification Studies on the 14th, titled 'Analysis of the Characteristics of Kim Jong-un's First Public Activities Each Year During His 12 Years in Power,' the person who most frequently accompanied Kim Jong-un in public activities last year was Premier Kim Tok-hun, with a total of 25 occasions.

Jo Yong-won, Party Organization Secretary, reporting to Party Chairman Kim Jong-un while kneeling.
Photo by Korean Central TV screen
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Following him were Jo Yong-won (22 times), Ri Pyong-chol (17 times), Pak Jong-chon (11 times), and Choe Ryong-hae (12 times), ranking within the top five in terms of the number of times they accompanied Kim Jong-un last year.

Jo Yong-won accompanied Kim Jong-un the most in 2021 and 2022, with 28 and 37 times respectively, but last year his number of accompanying occasions was fewer than Kim Tok-hun's.

However, as of the 12th of this year, Jo Yong-won has accompanied Kim Jong-un seven times, making him the most frequent aide in public activities so far this year.

In particular, Jo Yong-won has accompanied Kim Jong-un on his first public activity of the New Year for five consecutive years from 2020 to this year. Including 2017 and 2018, he has accompanied Kim Jong-un on the first public activity of the New Year a total of seven times, more than any other high-ranking official. Since Kim Jong-un came to power, a total of 48 people have accompanied him on the first public activity of the New Year.

Kim Jong-un's main aides were initially elderly senior party and military officials who were close associates of Kim Jong-il, but from the middle period, this shifted to his close aides such as Jo Yong-won and Kim Tok-hun, as well as family members including Ri Sol-ju, Kim Yo-jong, and his daughter Ju-ae.

The report evaluated this change pattern as indicating that "Kim Jong-un sought a stable succession of power in the early period of his rule through the support and assistance of Kim Jong-il's closest aides," and from the middle period onward, it "shows his will to promote economic development and consolidate power."

Kim Jong-un's first public activities of the New Year were concentrated in the military sector (5 times) and the economic sector (5 times).

The report analyzed, "During Kim Jong-un's 12 years in power, the first public activities of the New Year show a pattern of diversification from an initial high interest in military facilities to later fields such as the economy, science and technology, and diplomacy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.