SEOUL (Reuters) - The younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has assumed a senior position in the ruling Workers’ Party, state media reported on Thursday, consolidating a third generation of Kim family rule in the secretive state.

Kim Yo Jong, who is believed to be 27, had previously only been named as a party official, but was rumoured to have a managerial role in her brother’s government.

She was identified on Thursday as a vice director of a department within the powerful Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party in a report carried by state news agency KCNA.

Kim Yo Jong is the only other member of the ruling Kim family known to have an official job within the North Korean government. Her brother is the third generation Kim to rule North Korea.

Kim Kyong Hui, the sister of late leader Kim Jong Il held senior military and Party positions within the government, but has not been seen since her husband, Jang Song Thaek, was purged a year ago.

Kim Jong Un, 31, and his sister were born to Ko Yong Hui, the fourth partner of late leader Kim Jong Il. The pair are believed to have attended the same boarding school in Switzerland with their elder brother Kim Jong Chol.

The elder brother does not have any publicly identified role in the government.

Kim Jong Un, who is regularly the centrepiece of state propaganda, recently disappeared from state media reports for over a month, prompting speculation about alternative structures of power within the ruling Kim family.