Following the re-emergence of North Korea’s ranking party official Kim Yong Chol on June 3 and the supreme leader’s sister Kim Yo Jong the next day, South Korean media has widely reported on what they viewed as a decline in Kim Yong Chol’s rank, and a rise in Kim Yo Jong’s position, in the North Korean leadership hierarchy.

Their assertions about Kim Yong Chol were largely based on the fact that he was listed 10th out of 12 attending officials. Their conjectures about Kim Yo Jong were based on the fact that she was seated