Kim Yo-jong: CNN accused of producing propaganda after report on Kim Jong-un's sister sparks debate

'Someone tell CNN that their site has been hacked by the North Korea,' says chairman of Human Rights Foundation

CNN has been accused of producing propaganda after publishing an article about Kim Jong-un’s sister, sparking debate about how the press should report on members of the North Korean regime.

Kim Yo-jong attended the the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang over the weekend, becoming the first member of the North’s ruling dynasty to visit the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean war.

She was seen shaking hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and cheering on a unified Korean team during the visit.

The event was widely reported by news organisations around the world, with journalists looked for signs of warmth between the North and South, which are still technically at war.

But CNN came under fire for glamorising the 30-year-old, who plays a key role in the North’s brutal authoritarian regime, after it published an article entitled: “Kim Jong Un’s sister is stealing the show at the Winter Olympics.”

“With a smile, a handshake and a warm message in South Korea’s presidential guest book, Kim Yo Jong has struck a chord with the public just one day into the Pyeongchang Games,” the CNN article says.

The piece cited experts who said the North was presenting Ms Kim as a counterpart to Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.

“Seen by some as her brother’s answer to American first daughter Ivanka Trump, Kim, 30, is not only a powerful member of Kim Jong Un’s kitchen cabinet but also a foil to the perception of North Korea as antiquated and militaristic,” the piece says.

The broadcaster noted the North has an oppressive regime, including its running of “Nazi-style prison camps”. The report's authors also said Ms Kim held a role as deputy director of the leading party’s Propaganda and Agitation Department.

But, regardless, the piece sparked a fierce backlash, with commentators accusing CNN of celebrating the figurehead.

“Someone tell CNN that their site has been hacked by the North Korean propaganda ministry,” Garry Kasparov, chairman of the influential Human Rights Foundation, said in a Twitter post.

Former foreign policy spokesman for Hillary Clinton Jesse Lehrich posted the article, saying: “She’s literally the deputy director of the ‘Propaganda and Agitation Department’ for one of the world’s most repressive regimes.”

CNN is not the only news organisation to publish articles about Ms Kim that draw parallels between her and the US first daughter, with the BBC running a piece last week calling her “The Ivanka of North Korea”.

And while some have criticised the coverage for lauding the North Korean regime, others have underlined the importance of Ms Kim’s appearance in South Korea.

“Kim kept smiling but at the same time was rarely seen having her head down during the visit, even to our president,” Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies at Seoul, told AFP. He speculated the North Korean leadership would have been pleased with how the visit went.

“She is one of a very few people who can talk freely about anything with the leader Kim,” he added.

Ms Kim is the youngest daughter of the late Kim Jong-il and shares the same mother as the current leader Kim Jong-un, according to North Korea Leadership Watch, which monitors key members of the regime.

She is reportedly close to the supreme leader, who is four years older than her, and both siblings studied in Switzerland at the same time.

The Independent has contacted CNN for comment.