Kim Jong-un health rumours rage as his sister is set to be promoted to ‘successor’ role tyrant once held
KIM Jong-un's sister is set to be promoted to official "successor" in North Korea fuelling rumours her despotic brother has died or is gravely ill, reports claim.
The move will confirm Kim Yo-jong as the most important figure in the tyrannical regime after her brother as it is the same role he held when their father died.
The rogue state's National Assembly wants to expand her role to become "party center" (successor) in a bid to strengthen the sovereignty of the "blood lineage".
That would make Kim's sister Dang Joong-ang - heir apparent to her brother's throne - and should stop the Kim family being toppled from power in the wake of his death.
Dang Joong-ang was the title given to Kim Jong-il, who was appointed as the successor of Kim Il-sung in 1974, and to Kim Jong-un, who was appointed as successor to his father Kim Jong-il in 2010.
her powerful new position would make her "party center responsible for the party's only leadership system”.
The Assembly stated: "This is not only the role of the first vice-president of the organisational 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."
Yo-Jong has long been seen as the “alter ego” of the North Korean dictator, however over the past two years she has become a much more prominent figure at home and abroad.
She has had a remarkable return to favour after falling out of grace with her brother following her removal from the role and told to keep a low profile following the failure of the Hanoi denuclearisation summit.
She is now thought to be the mastermind behind Kim’s carefully constructed public image, both at home and abroad and is said to have the full confidence of her ruthless brother.
Global attention is now focused on her after fears were sparked about her brother's health when he failed to make an appearance for the Day of the Sun celebrations on April 15.
Reports from South Korea claim Kim underwent heart surgery on April 12 and was seriously ill.
Meanwhile, South Korea insists Kim is "alive and well" and is in hiding over fears he will catch coronavirus.
Last month Kim's sister made her first public statement, condemning South Korea as a “frightened dog barking” after Seoul protested about the North’s recent live-fire military exercise.
She also publicly praised US President Donald Trump for sending Kim a letter in which he said he hoped to maintain good bilateral relations and offered help in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
Youngshik Bong, a research fellow at Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul, told : “It is revealing that Kim Jong-un permitted her to write and announce a scathing statement about South Korea in such a personal tone.
“He is clearly ready to allow his sister to become his alter ego.”
She is seen as the “propagandist-in-chief” at home, trying to shine Kim’s reputation as the current head of the dynasty that has ruled the country for three generations.
Yo-jong was rarely seen in public until 2010 when she was photographed attending a party conference.
But she was soon seen as a regular presence in her father Kim Jong-il’s entourage, and was seen mourning after his death in late 2011.
Her closeness to her brother started in the late 1990s when she attended primary school in Berne, Switzerland at the same time as him.
The pair are said to have lived in a private home, attended to by staff and watched over by bodyguards, according to North Korea Leadership Watch.
It is believed she went on to further her education at the Kim Il-sung Military University and then computer science at the Kim Il-sung university.
Kim is married to Choe Song, the son of top North Korean military official and politician Choe Ryong-hae, and has at least one child born in May 2015.
In 2018, she represented North Korea and her brother at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Later that year, she attended the Singapore summit on June 11 between Donald Trump and the North Korean leader.
The dictator's sister was spotted at the signing between the two leaders stepping up to swap a pen which had been provided to sign the agreement.
But she was then demoted in 2019, after she was held responsible for the failure of the Hanoi Summit, which saw Donald Trump scrap denuclearisation talks.
At the 2019 North Korean parliamentary elections, Kim Yo-jong was elected to the Supreme People's Assembly as a representative for Killimgil.
In early April 2020, she was reinstated to the party’s powerful politburo according to the state Korean Central News Agency.
Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul said: “The North Korean regime is a family business, and Kim Jong-un appears to place trust in his sister.
“She has demonstrated skills at modernising the brand of the regime, and has some sway over state propaganda. Her most important function is probably as a confidante to her brother.
“But she also has a signalling role because messages from Kim Yo-jong carry more weight than those of an imminently replaceable North Korean official.”
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