♪♪ ♪♪ -It really is more like a monarchy led by the Kims rather than a truly socialist country.

♪♪ -When a country like North Korea determined to get nuclear weapons, you can negotiate forever, and you're never going to get them to give the weapons up.

-The North Koreans are trying to paint Kim Yo-Jong as this fearsome, strong, bold, sometimes threatening, sometimes charming.

-Kim Yo-Jong is the most powerful woman not only in contemporary North Korea, but perhaps all of Korean history.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Comrade Kim Yo-Jong, head of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea, will speak.

Dear comrades, I am here to examine the intense days in our fight against the pandemic.

For the first 91 days, I personally witnessed many tragedies.

The memory of these moments calls forth indescribable feelings.

-In August 2022, Kim Yo-Jong attended a forum celebrating North Korea's victory over an enemy -- COVID 19.

It had finally struck the country.

She revealed that her brother had also contracted the virus.

He'd been very ill with a high fever.

-I can't forget the moments when I couldn't be of any help to the Great Leader and when he was standing alone, facing a crisis, sometimes bewildered and saddened.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -During this period, to protect the precious lives of the people, the Great Leader convened meetings of the Party Central Committee every day and came up with quarantine measures to achieve from 1 to 10 or even 110,000 measures.

It was on the battlefield of the pandemic.

He directed the fight day and night, instigating ingenious quarantine measures.

-The medical personnel and the party officials listening to her actually started to cry.

And for the first time, Kim Yo-Jong was affirming her position as the regime's second in command.

It was a dramatic exhibition broadcast by the Korean propaganda machine.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -In less than 10 years.

Kim Yo-Jong had established herself as a major figure in North Korea, both promoting détente as well as reviving tensions.

Her influence stems to a large degree from her close relationship to her brother, third leader in the dynasty, but also from her own merits, which have proved exemplary since she first entered public life.

[ Women crying and screaming ] ♪♪ This is first and foremost a family story.

It began on the 17th of December, 2011, when Korean leader Kim Jong-Il died of a heart attack at the age of 70.

His death triggered widespread scenes of grief, in keeping with North Korea's cult of personality.

The power was passed on to one of his sons, Kim Jong-Un.

He was barely 28 years old and had no experience of politics.

Kim Jong-Un became the third supreme leader of this unique communist dynasty that had been founded by his grandfather Kim Il-Sung at the beginning of the Cold War.

Standing behind the new leader was a young woman also overcome by grief, a young woman unknown both to North Korea and to the rest of the world.

American Korean newswoman with Associated Press Jean Lee was the only Western journalist present in Pyongyang in those years.

-At that point, I had seen Kim Jong-Un in person.

I didn't see any sign of his older brother or his younger sister.

Never saw either of them at Kim Jong-Il's side in the last year of his life, which was when I was in Pyongyang, and I was at many events with the Kim family.

But I never saw Kim Yo-Jong.

-The young woman in tears supporting the new leader was a revelation.

Their father, Kim Jong-Il, had kept his family a secret, particularly his five children, who were from three different mothers.

In this patriarchal society, the succession of the "Dear Leader" was played out between brothers.

At the time, no one could have imagined that Kim Yo-Jong, the new leader's 24-year-old sister, was to play an increasingly important role in her brother's reign.

♪♪ -She was kept behind the scenes for a number of years.

That moment was very interesting for -- not only because we saw this young woman, but also because they were just sobbing.

And those are moments where you also realize these are children, that they are young, that they didn't necessarily have the composure.

♪♪ -The young woman in tears gradually took on a supporting role alongside her brother.

She was present on many public occasions, even though her actual role was never well defined.

She began to acquire several functions within the party itself and finally assumed the position of number two within the regime.

She could potentially even be called on to replace her brother in case of incapacity.

This was a first within this regime.

Lee Sung-Yoon, a researcher in the United States, is the author of the only biography of Kim Yo-Jong.

♪♪ -She has real power in her despotic state governed by her brother.

The two siblings visibly show affection and trust.

I believe Kim Yo-Jong has the full confidence of Kim Jong-Un.

And this is extraordinary because in the very male-dominated, chauvinistic culture and society that is North Korea, we have never seen such a powerful woman, a woman who is a key member of the royal family.

♪♪ -How could this communist regime have transformed itself into a dynasty, and to such an extent that people refer to it without irony as a royal family?

Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the dynasty, did not come to power because of his origins, but in the wake of the Soviet Red Army at the end of the Second World War.

He had been a guerrilla leader in the anti-Japanese resistance and had won the support of Moscow over other contenders for communist leadership.

Kim Il-Sung had to deal with the Korean War.

It was the first Cold War conflict to involve both American and Chinese armies.

North Korea managed to maintain good relations with the two rival powers, sometimes playing one against the other.

The Korean Dear Leader derived great benefit from this.

Kim Il-Sung traced his own path and created a personality cult that was even more exaggerated than Mao's in neighboring China.

Very soon, his son Kim Jong-Il was seen by his side.

He was considered as the natural successor, preordained to the role of supreme leader from a very young age.

The family, the royal blood, gradually became the basis of power, all backed by elaborate propaganda.

This became obvious at the death of Kim Jong-Il while none of his sons had ever been involved in the affairs of state.

♪♪ Jeong Se-Hyun served as the South Korean unification minister under two presidents.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Because in the meantime, when power was succeeded from Kim Il-Sung to Kim Jong-Il, the logic that justifies it was that of the Paektu bloodline.

So, at least in the minds of North Koreans, there must be a mind-set that they cannot serve a person as a leader unless he is of the Paektu bloodline.

♪♪ -All dynastic power requires a founding myth.

-Kim Jong-Il's leadership of Korea.

-The Kims came from Korean tradition, from the sumptuous setting of Mount Paektu.

-Mount Paektu, the mountain that shines with a history of the Korean Revolution, tells the great history of the leadership of Korea by Kim Il-Sung, president of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the days go by.

-The regime propaganda did the rest, highlighting the Kim family's affiliation to the sacred mountain.

-Climbing back to the sacred revolutionary mountain, Kim Il-Sung said with deep emotion, "Whenever I climb Mount Paektu, I think of Comrade Kim Jong-Il.

Mount Paektu is his birthplace and the cradle where he nurtured his courage."

Mount Paektu is Kim Jong-Il's mountain at the same time as being Kim Il-Sung's mountain.

-It is the cradle of the Korean civilization.

So the Kim dynasty has appropriated, taken over the symbol of Mount Paektu and justifies its despotic rule by propagating the lie, the myth, that the family is sacred.

They are saviors of the Korean people and are destined to liberate South Korea, which North Korea claims is a colony of the United States.

♪♪ -Kim Jong-Un, the third generation, also resorted to Mount Paektu.

But he added a touch of modernity.

He is riding up the snowy mountain on horseback with his wife at his side.

But he carefully cultivated his physical resemblance to his grandfather Kim Il-Sung, founder of the dynasty.

He reproduced classic scenes from engravings familiar to all North Koreans.

♪♪ And the propaganda obviously includes the inevitable pilgrimage to the wooden house where his grandfather lived during the anti-Japanese resistance period and where, according to legend, his own father was conceived.

♪♪ -The Kims, in trying to extend this hereditary succession, they rely quite a bit on their traditions.

I mean, it's endlessly fascinating, and I have so many books that show pictures of Kim Il-Sung when he was younger.

And if you -- You can compare them side by side with pictures of Kim Jong-Un today, and they are exactly trying to replicate pictures of Kim Il-Sung that the North Koreans are familiar with.

♪♪ -The mother of Kim Jong-Un and his sister Kim Yo-Jong was the great love and favorite companion of their father, Kim Jong-Il.

Ko Yong-Hui, a former dancer, was also the object of a real personality cult.

♪♪ Propaganda would always portray her as "The Respected Mother, The Most Faithful and Loyal Subject of the Dear Leader Supreme Commander."

Ko Yong-Hui had three children with Kim Jong-Il.

The eldest, Kim Jong-Chul, was not thought strong enough to succeed his father, and Kim Jong-Un was chosen.

♪♪ The collusion and trust between Kim Jong-Un and his sister goes back to their school days in Switzerland, far from their parents and the isolation of the first circle of power.

Cheong Seong-Chang, a specialist in the Kim family, was adviser to the former South Korean president Moon Jae-In.

-Kim Jong-Un lived in Switzerland for four years, from the summer of 1996 to the beginning of 2001.

So he experienced capitalism firsthand.

And when Kim Jong-Un was in Switzerland, Kim Yo-Jong was with him.

So they went to Disneyland together, and they traveled to Europe.

So it can be seen that Kim Yo-Jong and Kim Jong-Un share a lot of experiences together.

♪♪ -It was probably here in the Swiss federal capital that the complicity between brother and sister developed.

North Korea installed its largest European diplomatic mission in Europe in Bern.

This elegant embassy is located in the International District.

It was directed by one of Kim Jong-Un's closest friends.

North Korean activity obviously greatly interested the Swiss intelligence community.

It kept track of all their actions.

In this report, it was recorded that the embassy has acquired several apartments in the quiet neighborhood of Liebefeld.

Swiss intelligence authorities confirmed that a whole North Korean community lived here in these apartments -- drivers, a cook, and directing this staff were members of the family of the North Korean dictator.

The Swiss secret service believes that North Korea was preparing a rear base in case the regime toppled.

♪♪ And yet in the mid-1990s, it became clear that this Liebefeld community had quite a different mission.

Two young children arrived from Pyongyang with a woman claiming to be their mother.

For some time, they were enrolled in the nearby school.

♪♪ Ueli Studer was then director of the Liebefeld school.

-[ Speaking German ] -There were two children from North Korea, and one of them was a girl.

She didn't stay very long, either.

So it was rather difficult.

They arrived.

They left.

The young man just didn't return to school after the summer holidays.

Neither did the girl.

It wasn't our role to find out who they were at this time.

-[ Speaking German ] -The Pak family had just disappeared overnight.

The children, now adolescents, returned to Pyongyang.

Shortly afterwards, the couple who had acted as their parents asked the American Embassy for political asylum.

It was later revealed that they were the aunt and uncle of Kim Yo-Jong and Kim Jong-Un.

Today, they're living in exile near Washington.

There were more than three children in the ever-so-complex Kim family.

There were the two boys and the daughter of Ko Yong-Hui, the favorite.

But there was also an elder half-brother, Kim Jong-Nam, who was not in line for succession.

-Hello?

-Kim Jong-Nam left to live abroad, where he could remove himself from the family dynasty, but he became a problem.

On the 13th of February, 2017, Kim Jong-Nam was in Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia.

Surveillance cameras were filming him when two young women rushed towards him.

They threw a piece of cloth over his face.

It proved to be impregnated with a deadly poison.

Kim Jong-Nam died a few minutes later.

When arrested, the young women said they thought they were taking part in a television game.

Direct responsibility of the North Korean regime has never been proven, but there is little doubt.

-One of the great sources of power or instruments of oppression in the North Korean political system is terrorizing the people not only ordinary folks, but party members.

-This was not the first instance of ruthless authority.

Jang Song-Thaek, the all-powerful uncle, was Kim Jong-Il's brother-in-law.

He had also been mentor to the young Kim Jong-Un in his early days in power.

He was arrested and immediately executed on the 12th of December, 2013.

He was accused of going to expensive restaurants and of having mistresses.

-It's not just a medieval, bizarre dynasty, monarchy run by Kim Jong-Un, of course, yes, but with his sister by his side, as if she were a co-criminal.

♪♪ -By creating a vacuum around them, Kim Jong-Un and his young sister found themselves firmly installed at the head of the state and of the party.

The bond of trust between brother and sister was a guarantee.

♪♪ As advisor to several South Korean presidents, Moon Chung-In took part in all the dialogues between North and South Korea.

-[ Speaking foreign language ] -Kim Jong-Un had difficulty in overseeing everything.

So he broke up tasks and gave the most appropriate ones to Kim Yo-Jong as a director.

-[ Continues speaking foreign language ] -So it would be more correct to say that Kim Yo-Jong plays more of a supporting role than that of a dictator.

-[ Speaking foreign language ] ♪♪ -Kim Yo-Jong made her appearance on the world stage in February 2018 during the Winter Olympics that were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

-Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome the president of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-In.

-It was an extraordinary moment.

The Olympic Games were being held on Korean soil, and the two opposing states had decided to come together as a single team for the occasion.

-An important moment in Olympic history as the North and South Korean athletes enter as one team under the flag of the Korean Peninsula.

♪♪ -The North Korean delegation was led by a veteran of the regime, Kim Yong-Nam.

But the real sensation was the presence of Kim Yo-Jong.

It was the first time a member of the ruling family had set foot in South Korea since the separation in 1945.

And all eyes were on the leader's young sister.

♪♪ During the opening ceremony, she was sitting just behind Mike Pence, the United States' vice president.

But when the American athletes passed in front of the stands, the North Korean delegation gave them an icy reception.

♪♪ Mike Pence later stated that he was especially careful not to look at the young woman.

She represented a country with whom the United States was officially still at war.

♪♪ John Bolton, national security advisor to the White House, approved of Pence's attitude.

-I think Vice President Pence did the right thing in avoiding contact.

I don't think there was any purpose to be served by it.

This is an authoritarian regime that runs a 25-million-person prison camp in North Korea.

So I think the vice president actually was pursuing the right course of action there.

And it was a real distinction of how he saw things, I think, from how President Trump saw things.

♪♪ -For John Bolton, the South Korean president, Moon Jae-In, had plotted the whole thing.

He wanted détente with the North, and he tried forcing the Americans' hand by organizing this show in the Olympic Games stands.

But it didn't work, at least not until a few months later.

-President Moon Jae-In wanted to have discussions between North Korea and the US on the nuclear program.

He was very much a sunshine policy advocate in one of its variations.

And people speculated about exactly what the sister's role was, because we didn't really know.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -I think that's a ridiculous interpretation of the events.

Our administration was comprehensive with our plans to better our diplomatic relations and how to make this Olympic Games successful.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -If tensions rose higher during the Olympics, that would be considered a failure.

So that's why President Moon suggested something called Olympic Peace.

-Olympic Peace... [ Speaking Korean ] ♪♪ -But Kim Yo-Jong's visit didn't stop with the opening of the Olympic Games.

It was also political.

As soon as she arrived in Incheon International Airport in Seoul, the dictator's sister galvanized South Korea.

-When it was announced, when North Korea announced that Kim Jong-Un's sister would visit South Korea with all of 48 hours advance notification, there was great excitement throughout South Korea.

"Wow, the princess is coming.

Kim Jong-Un's own baby sister, little sister is visiting South Korea.

This must be serious.

Kim Jong-Un must be serious about peace, reconciliation, and denuclearization.

At last, peace is near."

-[ Speaking foreign language ] -The North Koreans were received with great honor by the South Korean Unification Minister.

Officially, Kim Yong-Nam, the old veteran leader, was head of the North Korean delegation.

But Kim Yo-Jong impressed people by her presence alone.

♪♪ -So, Kim Yo-Jong came, and she held her chin up slightly at the airport in South Korea.

She knew cameras were everywhere and reporters were filming her, trying to follow her every move.

She wore a smile slightly imperious, I would say, but she held her head straight.

When she was received in the VIP room, she, as she entered the room, just looked at two or three different spots... like this.

She did not turn her head.

She did not look excited.

She looked as if she were in charge.

And all this comes from training.

♪♪ -It was an historic moment when the female descendant of the Kim family arrived at the Blue House, the South Korean presidential palace in Seoul.

♪♪ This extraordinary moment was watched live by all South Koreans.

♪♪ The North Korean delegation was warmly welcomed by President Moon Jae-In, who wanted to revive détente with his fraternal enemies in the North.

♪♪ The image of this reunion was even stronger when North and South Koreans were seen cheering together for their common team, a real symbol during a game of ice hockey against Switzerland.

Everything was done to give the impression of brotherhood.

It was premature, but both sides played along.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -I think the reason why Kim Jong-Un sent his younger sister Kim Yo-Jong to Seoul was that he wanted to hear what South Korea was really like.

-[ Continues speaking Korean ] -It would be difficult for North Korean officials to come to South Korea and report to Kim Jong-Un what they really saw and felt.

If they came to South Korea and saw something good and told it to Kim Jong-Un as it was, they might be misunderstood as to whether they had any admiration or fantasies about South Korea.

However, Kim Jong-Un wanted to see and understand Korea as it was.

So you can see that he sent his younger sister, Kim Yo-Jong, who could talk to him openly about everything in South Korea.

♪♪ -The South Korean press covered Kim Yo-Jong's visit as if she were a rock star.

The media heaped praises on the young woman, whose every move was scrutinized and who didn't commit the slightest blunder.

The South Korean leaders attempted to evaluate the personality of this envoy from Pyongyang.

They understood that she was going to play an increasingly important political role.

♪♪ -[ Speaking Korean ] -At that time, I was able to watch Kim Yo-Jong from a close distance.

She was very quiet.

She was afraid of making a mistake.

Although she cherishes her words, I felt she was very overbearing for her age, because she lived her life while being respected as a person in high places.

-[ Hisses ] [ Continues speaking Korean ] -I didn't have a chance to see through to the inside of her.

She tried to hide it as much as she could.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -It seemed that she wanted to be seen as a mysterious being.

[ Man speaking Korean ] -The propaganda campaign was in full swing.

Even the least important South Korean television program had its stance, including the comparison between the handbags of Hyon Song-Wol, a North Korean star who had sung in front of the South Korean president, and those of the sister of the North Korean dictator.

And it was concluded that the North Korean star had designer handbags that were worth a fortune.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -It must be made of crocodile, and it costs about 18,000 euros.

Yes, such a small bag.

18,000 euros.

-While Kim Yo-Jong, the Supreme Leader's sister, was more political and played a more sober role.

If North Korea had wanted to make South Korea forget that it was threatened by nuclear weapons, it couldn't have done any better.

-[ Speaks Korean ] ♪♪ -Lee Chung-Min is a specialist of North Korea and Northeast Asia at the Carnegie Foundation.

-The South Korean press at that time was extremely, like, amazed at her level of aptitude, the way she talked with the president and other high level officials.

And there was this aura of this, "Wow, she's like the Madonna, you know, of North Korea."

I mean, Kim Yo-Jong became a very important psychological icon of the North Korean regime.

[ Woman speaking Korean ] -The return to Pyongyang was triumphal.

The delegation that had gone to South Korea had accomplished its mission.

And following the rules of protocol, Kim Yo-Jong returned to relative anonymity after leaving the plane.

She was only beginning her ascension of the power structure, but the seduction campaign undertaken in South Korea made her part of the first circle of power in North Korea.

[ Woman continues speaking Korean ] ♪♪ This détente was all the more remarkable in that it followed a period of great tension over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic program.

A few months before this diplomatic breakthrough, which promised priority to the North Korean economy, the climate was, on the contrary, rather antagonistic.

On the 3rd of September, 2017, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test.

This was triumphantly announced on Pyongyang's television by Ri Chun-Hee, a star news presenter who had come out of retirement for the occasion.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -The test of a hydrogen bomb for intercontinental ballistic rockets was a total success.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Nuclear scientists carried out a successful test on the 3rd of September at 12:00, true to the plans of the Workers Party of Korea.

-A few days later at the United Nations, President Donald Trump's response was of a rare vehemence.

-Now North Korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world.

The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.

Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.

The United States... -The exchanges between the young Korean leader in Pyongyang and the unpredictable American president were aggressive and explicit, but signs of détente increased.

Kim Jong-Un had made his demonstration of force and could now negotiate with Donald Trump, the very man who had promised to destroy him.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -In 2017, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear weapons test.

-[ Continues speaking Korean ] -And on the 29th of November, it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In the wake of these tests.

Kim Jong-Un declared that North Korea had completed the development of its nuclear program.

Pyongyang regarded itself as in a position of strength.

"We possess nuclear weapons.

We are a powerful nation.

So long as you don't attack us first, we are willing to talk, and we can talk about everything."

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Such was their intention.

It was the habitual strategy that Pyongyang had used for a long time to negotiate for peace from an offensive position.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -All messages transmitted to Washington had to pass through Seoul, and for Kim Yo-Jong, her visit to South Korea was the occasion to launch a new phase.

She delivered a personal letter of invitation to the South Korean president to meet the North Korean leader, her brother.

♪♪ ♪♪ After the success of Kim Yo-Jong's visit to Seoul, the first results of this détente between the North and the South took place in the Demilitarized Zone on the 38th parallel.

This border zone between the two Koreas is a result of the Korean War, which took place between 1950 and '53.

An armistice ended the war, but no peace treaty was ever signed.

Panmunjom, a former village now in the center of the demilitarized zone, is the only place of contact between the two countries.

And despite its name, this demilitarized zone is one of the most militarized places in the world.

It was here that Kim Jong-Un symbolically met the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-In, on the 27th of April, 2018.

This was barely two months after Kim Yo-Jong's mission to Seoul.

Kim Yo-Jong was still active in politics, but in a supportive role to her brother, the Supreme Leader.

[ Camera shutters clicking ] ♪♪ Hand in hand, the two Korean presidents crossed the separation between their respective countries, a modest concrete wall.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -I am very touched.

We meet at this historic spot, and you have come to welcome me in person.

-It would have been difficult to find a stronger symbol than this place haunted by the memory of a war that never ended.

[ Laughter ] [ Applause ] ♪♪ Legitimized by her role as her brother's confidante, Kim Yo-Jong was omnipresent on official North Korean television.

She accepted bouquets of flowers offered by children.

She looked after all details of protocol, and she took notes during interviews.

The South Korean delegation had obviously succumbed to her charm.

And on the television in Seoul, the government spokesman paid tribute to her.

-President Moon was talking with Vice President Kim Yo-Jong, who was present at the meeting.

The president said that Kim Yo-Jong had become a star in South Korea.

There was a large laugh, and she blushed.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -My impression of Kim Yo-Jong was positive.

-[ Continues speaking Korean ] -My first image of her was that she was incredibly respectful, efficient, and sincere.

This young woman made a very strong impression on me.

She was not flamboyant, but she expressed herself well each time that she was questioned, even though she never asked a question first.

-[ Speaking Korean ] [ Crowd cheering ] -The period of goodwill toward Seoul continued over the following months.

Moon Jae-In went to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where he was warmly welcomed.

And once again, Kim Yo-Jong was in the photograph and was carefully watching that all went as planned.

[ Crowd cheering ] ♪♪ During the third North-South summit of the year, it was she herself who welcomed the South Korean president on his arrival.

The rapprochement between the two Koreas was in fact a prelude to an even more unexpected diplomatic breakthrough.

♪♪ Donald Trump agreed to meet Kim Jong-Un in Singapore.

It was an historic first and was organized against the advice of the hawks in his administration -- the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and in particular, the national security adviser, John Bolton.

♪♪ Nearly 70 years after the end of the Korean War, Kim Jong-Un obtained from Donald Trump the recognition of the United States of America, a status that the preceding administrations had refused to his own grandfather and father.

-How's it going so far, sir?

-Very good.

-What do you think?

-Very, very good.

Excellent relationship.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

-It was an exceptional political success.

In Singapore, Donald Trump appreciated the company of the young North Korean leader, a man whose country he had promised to destroy in a speech at the UN less than a year before.

Although everything seemed to separate these two men -- age, way of life, political outlook, and even style -- they got along well together.

♪♪ In Singapore, the two leaders signed an imprecise statement that mentioned... -So, we're signing a very important document.

-...the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

-Thank you.

Thank you very much.

-Kim Yo-Jong was placed on the same rank as the American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

-Okay.

-Her presence near her brother was discreet, yet effective.

These images legitimized her that much more in the eyes of the North Korean public.

-Thank you very much.

That's fantastic.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

[ Applause ] [ Indistinct conversations ] -Although she had been the star during her visit to South Korea, she remained in the background in the presence of her brother.

The family hierarchy joined that of the power structure.

-I don't think any of us could have told that she was his sister unless we had seen pictures and knew who she was.

She behaved like a staff person, and there was no indication of a family relationship.

-Kim Jong-Un, and he alone, spoke for the North Korean side even at the most informal occasions, such as the dinners that the two delegations took together.

-She was at a lunch that we had the day of the negotiations.

It was not really a business lunch.

It was more informal, but I don't remember seeing her saying anything during the course of the lunch.

I'm not sure I remember anybody on the North Korean side other than Kim Jong-Un saying anything at the lunch.

-So, when the Supreme Leader is present at an official meeting, his officials visibly are in fear of displeasing the Supreme Leader.

Kim Yo-Jong is not afraid of her brother.

But in an important public event, Kim Yo-Jong would be out of place to speak unless Kim Jong-Un asks her to speak.

[ Camera shutters clicking ] ♪♪ -The goodwill of the Singapore summit did not last long.

There were two other summit meetings between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un, the first in February 2019 in Hanoi and the second the following June in Panmunjom, on the line of demarcation between the two Koreas.

But the diplomatic process was at an impasse.

There was no agreement concerning denuclearization.

It was impossible to sign any new documents in Hanoi.

Donald Trump's advisers had persuaded him not to do so.

The Panmunjom summit had the feel of a dying love story.

The period of détente was beginning to draw towards an end.

-Stepping across that line was a great honor.

A lot of progress has been made.

A lot of friendships have been made, and this has been in particular a great friendship.

So I just want to thank you.

That was very quick notice, and I want to thank you.

-Donald Trump had dreamed of a diplomatic success with North Korea, but he soon became disillusioned.

He had run into the same problem as his predecessors in regards to nuclear weapons.

-Each administration believed that they could negotiate some kind of deal with North Korea that would be acceptable to both sides that would involve North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons program.

And they were wrong every single time.

North Korea has made multiple commitments in writing to give up its nuclear weapons program, but it never quite gets around to it.

-And as diplomacy failed, military tensions mounted.

[ People speaking indistinctly ] North Korea resumed its ballistic missile tests.

There were at least 21 tests in 2019 and a sustained number in the following years.

In order to be taken seriously, North Korea had returned to a demonstration of force.

♪♪ Kim Yo-Jong's role had also changed.

The young woman climbed the ranks of the party and rose in power, and her rhetoric became stronger.

In 2018, she had charmed South Korea by attending the opening of the Winter Olympics, but after 2020, she promised an apocalypse and the destruction of the imperialists and their lackeys -- that is, the United States and South Korea.

♪♪ -It does leave Kim Jong-Un with the ability to hold down the fort at home.

And also, when she is attributed to these extremely harsh statements against South Korea and the United States, it still leaves him above it, above the fray.

-The Inter-Korean Liaison Office, established in Kaesong in North Korea, was the location of this change in policy.

This brand-new building, financed by South Korea, was inaugurated in September 2018 during full détente.

The building didn't even last a year.

On the 16th of June, 2019, North Korea blew up the edifice and sent images of its destruction to the entire world.

[ Man speaking Korean ] It was Kim Yo-Jong who commenced hostilities toward South Korea.

She even called the South Korean president crazy.

And yet it was the very same president with whom she had initiated a détente the year before.

And the cause?

Balloons carrying tracts sent by North Korean dissidents who had found refuge in South Korea.

The escalation of Kim Yo-Jong's discourse is doubtlessly part of the construction of the young woman's public image in North Korea.

The fact remains that South Korea was in a state of shock, particularly after having wished to believe in the fairy tale of the princess from Pyongyang.

♪♪ -[ Speaking Korean ] -She ordered the bombing of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office, which changed her reputation very negatively.

The image of Kim Yo-Jong now can be seen as a mixture of positive and negative images in South Korean society.

It can be seen that there's a mixture of expectations and disappointments about her now.

-[ Speaking Korean ] ♪♪ -The tone was set.

In Pyongyang, it was Kim Yo-Jong who led the charge against the South Koreans and the United States -- once again, the imperialist enemies.

♪♪ She increased aggressive declarations and statements that were read on the state television.

They were signed by the deputy department director of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea.

That was her exact title.

Reverting to the traditional jargon of the North Korean regime, Kim Yo-Jong threatened Americans with "a retaliation that will make you lose sleep."

To the South Koreans who offered economic aid in exchange for denuclearization, she answered, "No one barters their destiny for corn cake."

♪♪ In August 2021, Seoul reacted to the mounting tension and announced that South Korea had resumed joint military exercises with the United States.

These exercises had been suspended during the period of détente under Donald Trump.

Kim Yo-Jong then launched a bitter tirade against the United States.

She declared that the Korean Peninsula would never see peace as long as American troops remained in South Korea.

And the former envoy to Seoul added a personal touch by deeply regretting that which she called the perfidious behavior of the South Korean authorities.

The breakup was consummated.

♪♪ This official position, as expressed by Kim Yo-Jong, was an invitation to recognize North Korea as a nuclear power.

For years, the international community had vainly attempted to denuclearize the country.

But today, experts realize that this will not happen.

-When you have a country like North Korea determined to get nuclear weapons, you can negotiate forever, and you're never going to get them to give the weapons up.

-Was there a time in the past when denuclearization of North Korea was possible?

I don't know.

Nobody can answer that.

I mean, Kim Jong-Un would have to have his head examined if he were really willing to relinquish his nuclear arsenal after his predecessors, his father and grandfather, have spent half a century in building them.

And, of course, Kim Jong-Un's legitimacy internally comes to a great extent from his decade-long legacy of having much further advanced his nation's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

Real denuclearization of North Korea is today an impossibility.

♪♪ -But Washington was not ready to grant North Korea the status of a nuclear power.

♪♪ The strategic consequences were too important, including the risk that South Korea or even Japan try to acquire nuclear weapons in their turn.

♪♪ This climate of latent confrontation allowed the Pyongyang regime to justify a war economy and an absolute control over the population.

And for Kim Yo-Jong, it also created an occasion to impose herself as an indispensable figure in times of peace, as well as in times of tension.

-The North Koreans are trying to paint Kim Yo-Jong as this fearsome, strong, bold, sometimes threatening, sometimes charming political figure.

But is she ready to step into a bigger role?

She still looks like that young woman who understands that she has a role to play, perhaps has those ambitions, but still has a ways to go politically in terms of that confidence and that sense of authority.

-When speaking in public, however, Kim Yo-Jong displays an authority acquired over the years.

Her rhetoric is without compromise.

It is that of a leader.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -We are fighters with an uncompromising fighting spirit against enemies, a unique mission to defend our ideologies, and a heavier responsibility than before.

We are preparing to be ruthless avengers in our hearts.

We will exert more intense firepower, in alignment with our ideologies, to punish our enemies wherever they might be.

-But just how far can she go?

Could Kim Yo-Jong rule North Korea one day?

Could she succeed her brother in the case of his incapacity to govern, if, for example, as persistent rumors claim, he has major health problems?

In this patriarchal kingdom, the answer is, in all probability, affirmative.

Kim Yo-Jong is first and foremost a Kim in the lineage of the Mount Paektu bloodline.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -If Kim Jong-Un develops some serious health problem and cannot rule North Korea normally, it is very likely that Kim Yo-Jong will fill his space.

The reason is that Kim Yo-Jong has the same royal bloodline as Kim Jong-Un.

And in this society, Kim Yo-Jong, the daughter of Kim Jong-Il, has a superior position over other executives.

So regardless of the official title, it can be said that she is the second leader of North Korea.

♪♪ -Particularly as Kim Jong-Un presented one of his own daughters to the public for the first time, a 9-year old Ju-Ae.

♪♪ This symbolically occurred during an intercontinental ballistic missile test in 2022, when the young girl in red shoes appeared beside her father, the present dictator, in a scene widely publicized by the North Korean press.

The Kim family is not ready to leave the political scene, regardless of the outcome of the next succession.

♪♪ A decade earlier, another timid young woman was presented to the North Koreans.

And since then, Kim Yo-Jong has demonstrated that she is truly a red princess.

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