Kim Jong Un's sister given senior North Korea government role.

Kim Jong Un's little sister has assumed a senior position in North Korea's ruling Workers' Party. The announcement is being seen as an attempt to consolidate a third generation of Kim family rule in the pariah state.

Kim Yo Jong, who is believed to be 26 or 27, was identified on Thursday as vice director of a department within the powerful Central Committee of her brother's government, according to a report from state news agency KCNA.

The younger sibling made her first public appearance during the funeral of her father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011. She has since occasionally been seen accompanying her brother to political events, and although rumors had been circulating that she might have been given a managerial role in the authoritarian regime, this is the first mention of a specific post.

Her brother Kim Jong Un, 31, is the third generation in the Kim dynasty, which has ruled the secretive, impoverished state with a personality cult and an iron fist for more than 60 years.

It is not clear what Kim Yo Jong's responsibilities within the government are, but the promotion is being seen as a sign of her growing importance.

According to Yang Moo-jin, a North Korea expert at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, a departmental vice director is similar to a vice Cabinet minister. He added that the announcement of the role shows the government is now confident enough to introduce Kim Yo Jong as a significant part of its leadership.