Kim Jong-un's sister set to be annointed as his ‘successor’ amidst speculation that North Korea leader is dead
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, is reportedly set to be promoted to the official "successor" of the hermit nation, fuelling further speculations about her brother's ill health or possible death.
Kim Yo-jong's promotion will make her the most important figure in Pyongyang after her brother, who also held the same role when his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011. It was reported on Tuesday, April 29, that the state's National Assembly wishes to expand her role to become "party center" in an attempt to strengthen the sovereignty of the "blood lineage," according to DongA.com reports.
Making Kim Yo-jong the "party center" will make her "Dang Joong-ang", the heir apparent to Kim's throne, and the move would likely stop the dictator's family from being removed from power if the nation's Supreme Leader dies. The title of Dang Joong-ang was previously conferred to Kim's father in 1974 as the successor to Kim Il-sung, and later to Kim in 2010.
The outlet reported that Kim Yo-jong's new powerful position would make her "party center responsible for the party's only leadership system."
"This is not only the role of the first vice-president of the organizational leadership but also foreseeing the possibility of expanding to the status and role as the official successor of the white blood lineage in the future," the Assembly reportedly said.
Although Yo-jong has generally been considered the "alter ego" of Kim, she has become a much more prominent figure at home and abroad over the past two years. It is believed that she is the mastermind behind Kim's carefully constructed public image and is said to have full confidence in her tyrant brother.
Shortly after Kim's health speculations began earlier this month, there has been an increased global focus on Yo-Jong as the possible next leader of North Korea in case the rumors are true. Reports of Kim's ill health or possible death emerged after a South Korean outlet, Daily NK, claimed that Kim had undergone a cardiovascular system procedure in North Pyongyang on April 12 because of "excessive smoking, obesity and overworking".
US media, a week later, reportedly received a tip from an intelligence official that the dictator was indeed in a critical condition. A Japanese newspaper, Shukan Gendai, last week, claimed that the North Korean leader had been left in a vegetative state after a bungled operation.
South Korea, meanwhile, has maintained the Kim is "alive and well" and is in hiding in a resort over fears that he might contract the deadly coronavirus. The foreign policy advisor of the South Korean President Moon Jae-in rubbished reports of the North Korean dictator's death, saying that Kim was instead staying in his holiday resort on the North Korean coast.
Chung-in Moon, while talking to Fox News, said: "Our government position is firm...Kim Jong-un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected."
Kim's sister, last month, made her first public announcement as she slammed South Korea, calling the nation a "frightened dog barking" after Seoul protested about North Korea's recent live-fire military exercise