Kim Jong-Un's Little Sister Takes Top Job

North Korea has named Kim Jong-Un's younger sister as a senior party official, confirming her rise to become a potential key aide to the leader.

Kim Yo-Jong first made a public appearance at the funeral of her father and longstanding ruler Kim Jong-Il in December 2011.

Believed to be 26, she since been seen occasionally accompanying her brother to political events and on his "field guidance trips", but without any specific title attached to her name.

But the country's official KCNA news agency has now listed her as a "vice department director" in the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party in a report.

She was joining her brother on a trip to a cartoon film studio founded by their grandfather and the North's founding president, Kim Il-Sung.

Kim Jong-Un told animators during the visit to produce works that are "true to the intention of the party".

It is unclear exactly what Kim Yo-Jong's role is, but analysts suggested she was either in the powerful organisational department handling personnel changes or a propaganda unit.

Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said: "There aren't a whole lot of officials at her level that get publicly mentioned in KCNA articles.

"It's hard to gauge where she stands overall. Is she influential enough to communicate with top party officials? Or is she simply working at propaganda operations?

"It's hard to tell, especially with someone so young. So I think it's premature to say what role she is, or will be, playing,"

North Korean watchers have speculated that Kim Yo-Jong is being groomed to play a similar role supporting the leader as that filled by her powerful aunt, Kim Kyong-Hui.

Kim Kyong-Hui, 68, was a close aide to her own brother and late leader Kim Jong-Il for decades, assuming senior positions in the party and becoming a four-star general in 2010.

But she largely disappeared from public view after her husband Jang Song-Thaek was executed last December for charges including treason.