What is Kim Yo Jong’s IQ?
A reported Swiss school, a reported degree, and no test score anywhere.
No IQ test result has been published for Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong Un, so her IQ is not on record. What outside reporting does describe is schooling in Bern, Switzerland, a computer science degree at Kim Il Sung University and a rise to department director in North Korea’s Workers’ Party. That record supports an estimated IQ of about 105–125.
Kim Yo Jong’s estimated IQ
- Reported schooling at a public school in Bern, Switzerland, from 1996 to December 2000 under an assumed name (Wikipedia, citing The Washington Post, February 8, 2018). Reuters, in a report carried by Global News on October 9, 2017, said she was believed to have studied in Bern in the late 1990s.
- A reported computer science degree at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang (The Guardian, April 2020, as cited by Wikipedia; The Conversation, September 29, 2021). No graduation year, transcript or class rank is public.
- A Workers’ Party career: Vice Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department in a U.S. Treasury entry of January 11, 2017; alternate Politburo member from October 2017; promoted to department director at the ninth party congress in February 2026 and named director of the General Affairs Department by state media on February 28, 2026.
- Special envoy at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics: she attended the opening ceremony on February 9, 2018 and on February 10 handed South Korean President Moon Jae-in a personally written letter from Kim Jong Un (The Korea Times).
- Her first official statement in her own name, issued on March 3, 2020 as first vice-department director of the party’s Central Committee (Associated Press, via Al Jazeera, March 4, 2020).
None of this is documented the way a diploma is: the schooling and the degree are reported by outside press, and no school or university record for her is public. Party posts are decided by the party leadership, so they are not an open selection that can be compared with a test, and a score somewhat below or above this band would fit the same record.
- Born
- September 26; the year is 1987 (South Korean sources), 1988 (Unification Ministry) or 1989 (U.S. Treasury entry)
- Known as
- Sister of Kim Jong Un; senior official of North Korea’s Workers’ Party
- Reported schooling
- Public school in Bern, Switzerland, 1996 to December 2000, under an assumed name (The Washington Post, as cited by Wikipedia); not confirmed by a school record
- Reported degree
- Computer science, Kim Il Sung University, Pyongyang (The Conversation, 2021; The Guardian, 2020, as cited by Wikipedia); no year or transcript public
- Latest title reported
- Director of the General Affairs Department, Workers’ Party Central Committee (state media, February 28, 2026)
- Diplomatic role
- Special envoy at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, February 9–10, 2018; letter to President Moon Jae-in
- IQ test on record
- None published
- Estimated range here
- 105–125 (achievement and academic record)
What an IQ of 105–125 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Kim Yo Jong is
Kim Yo Jong’s education and age rest on reports, not on records. She is the sister of Kim Jong Un and a senior official of North Korea’s Workers’ Party. Her birthday is given as September 26, but the year differs. A CSIS profile of March 25, 2014 says experts believe she was born in September 1987. Agence France-Presse (The Korea Times, June 16, 2020) gives 1988, citing the Unification Ministry. The U.S. Treasury entry of January 11, 2017 reads “DOB 26 Sep 1989.” In February 2026 AFP wrote only that she was born in the late 1980s, “according to the South Korean government.”
Her schooling comes from press accounts. Wikipedia, citing The Washington Post of February 8, 2018, says she attended a public school in Bern, Switzerland, from 1996 to December 2000 under an assumed name. AFP says she was “educated in Switzerland alongside Kim Jong Un.” After that she is reported to have studied computer science at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang. The Guardian (April 2020, as cited by Wikipedia) and The Conversation (Sojin Lim of the University of Lancashire, September 29, 2021) give the subject. Neither is a university record, and no graduation year or class rank is public.
Her party posts are better documented. Wikipedia dates her appointment as first deputy director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department to November 2014. The Treasury entry of January 11, 2017 gives her as Vice Director of that department. She became an alternate member of the Politburo in October 2017, and The Conversation dates her two spells in that post to 2017–2019 and 2020–2021. The ninth party congress ran from February 19 to 25, 2026 in Pyongyang. Its first plenary meeting, on February 23, promoted her to department director. State media reported the promotion on February 24 without naming the department (The Korea Herald). On February 28 it called her director of the General Affairs Department of the party’s Central Committee, and she had been vice director before (Korea JoongAng Daily).
Her best-known public roles date from 2018. She attended the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on February 9 and on February 10 delivered a personally written letter from Kim Jong Un to South Korean President Moon Jae-in as his special envoy (The Korea Times). The Associated Press called her the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit the South since the Korean War. She was named in the North’s delegation for the April 27, 2018 summit at Panmunjom, announced on April 26, and Wikipedia’s account of the September 18–20, 2018 Pyongyang summit places her at the first day’s talks. Her first official statement in her own name came on March 3, 2020 (AP, via Al Jazeera, March 4, 2020), and AFP reported on June 16, 2020 that a statement in her name, issued the weekend before, was carried by the state news agency KCNA. As of October 2026 the record on her is titles, dates and press reports, and group averages such as the average IQ of college students describe cohorts, not any one graduate.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed October 2026
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Kim Yo Jong: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 1987–89Born September 26; the year is given as 1987 (South Korean sources), 1988 (Unification Ministry) or 1989 (U.S. Treasury entry).
- 1996–2000Reported to attend a public school in Bern, Switzerland, until December 2000 (Wikipedia, citing The Washington Post, 2018).
- After 2000Reported to study computer science at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang; no year, transcript or class rank is public.
- 2014Appointed first deputy director of the Workers’ Party Propaganda and Agitation Department in November (Wikipedia).
- 2017Given as Vice Director of that department in a U.S. Treasury entry of January 11; named an alternate Politburo member in October.
- 2018Attends the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on February 9 and meets President Moon Jae-in on February 10 as special envoy.
- 2018Named in the North’s delegation for the April 27 Panmunjom summit; at the September 18 talks in Pyongyang (Wikipedia).
- 2020Issues her first official statement in her own name on March 3, as first vice-department director of the Central Committee.
- 2026Promoted to department director at the ninth party congress (plenary meeting February 23, reported February 24); called director of the General Affairs Department on February 28.
Why no figure circulates
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
Kim Yo Jong’s IQ is not on record. No IQ test result for her has been published by a government, a school, a testing body or a biographer, and no sourced IQ number circulates for her. The nearest figures online belong to her brother, and none of them is a published test result either. A number with no named test, date and tester is a guess, which is how celebrity IQ numbers usually arise.
What is documented about Kim Yo Jong, and how sure is each fact? Her party titles are the firmest. The U.S. Treasury entry of January 11, 2017 gives her as Vice Director of the Workers’ Party Propaganda and Agitation Department, and North Korean state media called her director of the General Affairs Department on February 28, 2026. Her 2018 trip to South Korea was public and widely reported. Her birth year is not settled: South Korean sources say 1987, the Unification Ministry says 1988 and the Treasury entry says 1989. Her schooling is reported, not documented.
Did she take an IQ test, and is Kim Yo Jong smart? Her education rests on press reports. Reuters, in a report carried by Global News on October 9, 2017, said she was believed to have studied in Bern, Switzerland, in the late 1990s and then at Kim Il Sung University. Wikipedia, citing The Washington Post of February 8, 2018, dates the Bern years to 1996 through December 2000. The Conversation (September 29, 2021) says she studied computer science at the university. None of these accounts shows a school or university record. Achievement records are not IQ tests: a degree title says what someone studied, not how she scored.
How does the Kim Yo Jong IQ level compare with other politicians on this site? The 105–125 range sits with Kim Jong Un at 105–120, whose page rests on the same kind of reported Swiss schooling and Kim Il Sung University study, and just below the 115–130 given to Xi Jinping. It is well under the 130–145 of Mark Carney, whose estimate rests on a completed doctorate with published dates. The comparison is by kind of evidence, not by office. On a standard deviation of 15, 105–125 spans roughly the 63rd to the 95th percentile (the IQ bell curve), and a midpoint of 115 is close to what an IQ of 115 means: above average, but an inference, not a measurement.
How we read a number →The entry for Kim Yo Jong reads “DOB 26 Sep 1989” and gives her title as “Vice Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department.” This page uses the entry only for those two facts; it contains no IQ, school or degree.
Says she is “believed by experts to be born in September 1987 (26)” and that “not much of her life is officially known.” It gives no education details.
Says her date of birth is “clouded in uncertainty”; that she is understood to have attended school in Bern, Switzerland, and to have studied computer science at Kim Il Sung University; and that she was elevated to the Politburo in 2017–2019 and 2020–2021.
Gives September 26, 1987 (South Korean sources) against 1989 (Treasury); Bern school 1996 to December 2000 (citing The Washington Post, February 8, 2018); the computer science degree (citing The Guardian, April 2020); the first plenary meeting of the ninth Central Committee on February 23, 2026; her place in the April 27, 2018 delegation list and at the September 18, 2018 talks. Wikidata Q4330912 is “North Korean politician and diplomat, sister of Kim Jong Un.”
Says she is “believed to have studied in Bern, Switzerland in the late 1990s, Reuters reported,” and then at Kim Il Sung University. Names no school record.
The 2020 AFP report says “Born in 1988, according to the Unification ministry,” that she was “educated in Switzerland alongside her brother,” and that a weekend statement in her name was carried by KCNA. The 2018 report calls her Kim Jong Un’s special envoy carrying a “personally written letter.”
Calls the statement issued on the night of March 3 her “first known official statement,” in her capacity as “first vice-department director of the ruling Workers Party’s Central Committee,” carried by state media; describes her as believed to be in her early 30s and the first member of the ruling family to visit the South since the Korean War.
Report that state media said on February 24 she had been promoted to department head, previously vice director, without naming the department; that on February 28 state media called her “director of the General Affairs Department of the WPK Central Committee”; and that AFP gives her birth as the late 1980s “according to the South Korean government” and her education as Switzerland “alongside Kim Jong Un.”
The Treasury entry, the CSIS and Conversation analyses, the AP, AFP, Korea Times and Korea Herald reports and Wikipedia record birth years, schools, titles and dates only; none contains an IQ, SAT or class-rank record for Kim Yo Jong.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Kim Yo Jong, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
No sourced IQ figure circulates for Kim Yo Jong. The numbers people find when they search her name belong to her brother, and his profile on this site covers them. Opinions about someone’s intelligence are not test results.
No published IQ test result exists for Kim Yo Jong. The CSIS profile of March 25, 2014, the U.S. Treasury entry of January 11, 2017, the Associated Press report of March 2020, The Conversation’s analysis of 2021 and the February 2026 reports on her promotion give birth years, schools, titles and dates. None gives an IQ, a grade or a class rank.
There is no circulating IQ figure to set against this range, so the spread shows only its width. It is 20 points wide on purpose: reported schooling, a reported degree and a party career cannot be turned into one number, and the range says so.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Kim Yo Jong — frequently asked
What is Kim Yo Jong’s IQ?
No IQ test result has been published for Kim Yo Jong, so her IQ is not on record. Her reported schooling in Bern, a reported computer science degree at Kim Il Sung University and her rise to department director in the Workers’ Party support an estimated IQ of about 105–125. It is an inference, not a measurement.
Did Kim Yo Jong take an IQ test?
No Kim Yo Jong IQ test result is public as of October 2026. No government, school, testing body or biographer has published a score, a transcript or a class rank for her. Figures that circulate for her brother are not hers.
Is Kim Yo Jong smart?
Smart is a fair word only in a loose sense: she has held senior Workers’ Party posts and is reported to have studied computer science at Kim Il Sung University. Neither is a test score. Her record supports an estimated IQ of about 105–125, and a genius label would need a result that does not exist.
How does Kim Yo Jong’s estimated IQ compare with Kim Jong Un’s?
IQ Metrics estimates Kim Yo Jong at 105–125 and Kim Jong Un at 105–120. The bands overlap because both rest on the same kind of thin evidence: reported Swiss schooling and reported study at Kim Il Sung University. Both are estimates from public records, and neither has a published IQ test.
What is Kim Yo Jong’s education?
Kim Yo Jong’s education is reported, not documented. Wikipedia, citing The Washington Post (2018), says she attended a public school in Bern, Switzerland, from 1996 to December 2000. The Conversation (2021) says she studied computer science at Kim Il Sung University. No transcript, graduation year or class rank is public.
How old is Kim Yo Jong, and why do sources disagree?
Sources give her birth as September 26 of 1987, 1988 or 1989. A 2014 CSIS profile says 1987, the Unification Ministry says 1988 (AFP, 2020) and a January 2017 U.S. Treasury entry says 1989. In February 2026 AFP wrote only that she was born in the late 1980s.
What position does Kim Yo Jong hold?
On February 28, 2026 North Korean state media called Kim Yo Jong director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers’ Party Central Committee, after she was promoted to department director at the ninth party congress. She was previously vice director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department. A post shows responsibility, not an IQ score.
How does my IQ compare with Kim Yo Jong?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other politics profiles, starting with Thomas Jefferson.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More politics profiles — same field, same method
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Photograph by Vladimir Smirnov / TASS, CC BY 4.0. Cropped from a wider photograph; background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street (January 29, 2026; Commons file), CC BY 4.0, cropped from a larger picture. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by the Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above.
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