Kim Jong-un's aunt Kim Kyong-hui survives purge North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and aunt Kim Kyong Hui attend a statue unveiling ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea on the anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's birthday in February. Seoul: Kim Kyong-hui, an aunt of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, appears to have survived the purge and execution of her husband, Jang Song-thaek, as her name re-emerged in a leadership list in the North's state-run news media over the weekend. The North's Korean Central News Agency on Saturday included Ms Kim's name in the roster of top officials appointed to a national committee in charge of organising a state funeral for Kim Kuk-tae, a former party secretary who died on Friday at 89. In North Korea, whether an official's name is included in such a list is an important gauge of whether the official is favoured by the government. Ms Kim was placed sixth on the list that included most of the top party and military figures. The list also included Vice Premier Ro Du-chol, one of the people said to have been close to Mr Jang, discrediting recent news reports in South Korea that Mr Ro might be one of the senior North Koreans said to be fleeing a widening political purge after Mr Jang's downfall. Mr Jang, 67, long considered to be the North's No. 2 man and Kim Jong-un's mentor, was executed on Thursday, the North announced, for plotting to overthrow Mr Kim's government. North Korea also indicated that it was purging those close to Mr Jang, who was accused of building a network of followers in the ruling Workers" Party of Korea, the government and the Korean People's Army. Mr Jang and his wife had been widely seen as parent-like figures for Kim Jong-un, helping their nephew establish himself as the supreme leader. As Mr Jang's purge unfolded in past weeks, Ms Kim's name has also disappeared from North Korean news media, prompting speculation over her fate. Typically, the entire extended family of a traitor is executed or sent to a prison camp in North Korea, but analysts have said that Kim Jong-un would be likely to spare Ms Kim. She is the only sister of Mr Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, who ruled North Korea before him. Diminutive, frail and reportedly sick, Ms Kim, 67, seldom appeared in public during her brother's rule. But after his death, she raised her public profile, assuming more titles, accompanying Kim Jong-un during his public appearances and attending meetings where he has presided. Sitting erect and grim-faced in an oversize chair, she had been the only female face in the North Korean leadership that is filled with uniformed generals. Analysts have seen her as a regent helping to guide her nephew through the North's treacherous internal politics to ensure a smooth generational change in her family's dynasty. But her true status and her relationship with her husband had always been a subject of speculation. Some analysts said that her value to Mr Kim was largely symbolic: She was his eldest surviving blood relative, one of the links Mr Kim had to his grandfather, the North's founding president, Kim Il-sung, whose godlike status among North Koreans helped legitimise Mr Kim's own rule. After Mr Jang's execution, the North's state news media exhorted its people to stay loyal to the "blood line" that Mr Kim inherited from his father and his grandfather. Even before Mr Jang's downfall, analysts in South Korea had speculated that he had been estranged from his wife. The couple's only child, a daughter, committed suicide in France in 2006, according to the South Korean news media. In a party meeting on December 8 that condemned Mr Jang as a traitor, he was called a depraved and corrupt womaniser. Yoon Sang-hyun, a deputy floor leader of the governing Saenuri Party in South Korea, told reporters on December 8 that Ms Kim had been "separated" from Mr Jang and did not oppose his purge. North Korea has purged top officials and family members of the leader before, but it was highly unusual for the government to reveal the execution of one of them to the public. Analysts remained divided over whether it was a sign of instability or a demonstration of confidence on Mr Kim's part. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the execution of Mr Kim's uncle in extraordinarily strong and personal language. "It tells us a lot about, first of all, how ruthless and reckless he is, and it also tells us a lot about how insecure he is," Mr Kerry said in an interview with the ABC News program "This Week" that was broadcast on Sunday but taped before Mr Kerry left on an Asian trip. Mr Kerry acknowledged the difficulty of assessing the deeply opaque North Korean government. But he said there was sufficient evidence to view Mr Kim as "spontaneous, erratic, still worried about his place in the power structure and maneuvering to eliminate any potential kind of a adversary or competitor." Brian Knowlton contributed reporting from Washington.