North Korea sees unprecedented 'panic buying' as reports of Kim Jong-un’s death spark fears of civil war
Residents in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, have started panic buying amid recent reports that their supreme leader Kim Jong-un has passed away or is seriously ill.
It has been reported that store shelves in Pyongyang were being cleaned out with consumers buying everything from liquor and laundry detergent to canned fish and cigarettes over the last few days. Rumors have surrounded the current health status of their leader.
Helicopters have been flying low over Pyongyang while trains in North Korea and North China "have been disrupted," the Washington Post reported. According to experts, any power vacuum that is left by Kim could result in a civil war between rival power centers in the country's regime and military.
There has been a lot of speculation about Kim's condition as to whether he was dead given his notable absence from the celebration of the republic's 88th anniversary. There were also reports that the leader's train had been at a halt for several days which added to the speculation.
According to satellite images, a train believed to belong to Kim has been stationary since last week. The pictures were released by 38 North, a website that specializes in North Korean studies. The train has been parked at the Leadership Railway Station since at least April 21, the report revealed.
"The train's presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country's eastern coast," it was said.
According to the pictures, the train had arrived before April 21 and was still there on April 23 when it seemed to reposition to leave. However, there is no indication as to when that departure will take place.
We had previously reported that North Korea is one of the world's most secretive countries and the 36-year-old leader's condition remains a mystery.
On April 15, Kim didn’t appear at a celebration commemorating North Korea’s most important holiday, which honors the founder of the country, Kim's late grandfather Kim Il-sung and that led to rumors of him being severely ill or even dead.
North Korean media, however, has been strangely mum about the rumors and continues to publish old (or undated) statements from Kim about the economy and other topics showing as if everything is fine in the country.
It is also believed that Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, has been lined up to take over her brother's role should he die from the mystery illness. If she should do so, then she would be continuing the family's unbroken rule in the country since 1948 thanks to Kim ll-sung.
Experts believe that Yo-jong will be even more fierce and ruthless than her brother has been over his eight-year rule. The leader has shown no mercy to rule-breakers including some members of his own family.
However, there are other names also in contention. Here is a list of all the possible candidates who could take over should anything happen to Kim. A Japanese magazine, Shukan Gendai, shared that he is in a "vegetative state" post a heart surgery that supposedly went wrong earlier this month.