North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a coma?

[lpetrich]

Rumors about Kim Jong Un dying are going viral again, but experts say not to believe them

A wild rumor that North Korean despot Kim Jong Un is dying is once again spreading across social media but experts are saying not to believe them.

On Friday, Jang Sung-min, a former South Korean minister, said that an unnamed source in China had told him that Kim was "in a coma" but "his life has not ended," according to the Korea Herald, a South Korean news outlet.

[Newsmaker] Former aide to ex-president claims NK leader in coma

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in a coma, and his decision to delegate some of his power to his aides is proof, a former aide to the late President Kim Dae-jung claimed Friday.

Jang Sung-min, who served Kim Dae-jung as a political affairs secretary and as head of the state affairs monitoring office, insisted that Kim Jong-un is comatose but his sister Kim Yo-jong is not his successor despite the power restructuring.

According to the rumors, she is a sort of acting head of the North Korean gov't in the absence of a complete succession structure. But according to South Korean intelligence, Kim Jong-un shares power with a few of his most trusted aides. Will KJU make a public appearance to try to dispel rumors?

I was struck by a bit of these rumors, that KJU's sister KYJ is a sort of acting leader. This seems like the politics of a royal family. Yet more evidence that North Korea's government is a de facto monarchy.

 

[lpetrich]

Kim Yo Jong could be North Korea's worst dictator yet, experts say

Kim Yo Jong, 32, appeared poised to take the reins of power amid a claim that her older brother has been in a coma for months and his recent public appearances have been staged.

“I haven’t seen any evidence, any indication of how she might rule, but my speculation — given the reputation and history of the family — is that she would rule with an iron fist,” retired US Army Col. David Maxwell said.

 

[Elixir]

What happens in NK when Un dies? Do the citizens have to beat themselves with chains and all that? Or do they just start adulating his sister, like Un never existed?

 

[lpetrich]

What happens in NK when Un dies? Do the citizens have to beat themselves with chains and all that? Or do they just start adulating his sister, like Un never existed?

Beating themselves with chains? Why that?

If the death of KJU's father and predecessor Kim Jong-il is any guide, then NK would have massive mourning for him, even if it didn't involve mourners beating themselves with chains.

Kim Jong-il, North Korean Dictator, Dies - The New York Times - 2011 Dec 19

Kim Jong Il Dead: N. Korea Really Mourning? - YouTube -- 11 days of mourning, with NKers wailing. Was that real, fake, or both?
People crying on the streets after death of Kim Jong-Il - YouTube
North Korean State TV announces the death of leader Kim Jong-il - YouTube

There was similar big mourning when KJI's father and predecessor Kim Il-sung died in 1994. KIS was NK's first leader, getting into power in 1948.

Father-and-son succession -- seems like a monarchy.

 

[Trausti]

While I’m skeptical that rocket man is really dead this time, I’m genuinely interested in how the first female dictator would play out.

 

[lpetrich]

What happens if Kim Jong Un is dead? Explaining North Korea’s succession plan - world news - Hindustan Times

But in North Korea, the leader has to be from Kim’s bloodline.

Reports in variuous outlet say that Kim has three sons - and the eldest one was born in 2010. Hence, the reponsibilities to run the affairs of the country rests on the shoulders of his sister Kim Yo Jong. She is the only person that the North Korean leader trusts.

Kim has made his sister the “de facto second-in-command”, according to neighbouring South Korea’s intelligence agency. The sleuths of the agency said that Kim has delegated responsibility for relations with Seoul and Washington to his sister.

Kim Yo Jong won fame ahead of her brother’s 2019 summit with US President Donald Trump in Vietnam, when her efforts to ensure everything went well included holding an ashtray for the North Korean leader at a train station on his journey.

Kim Jong-un dead: The telltale signs from North Korea suggesting leader's death | World | News | Express.co.uk by analyst Jim Hoare:

"South Korea would go into emergency mode, with troops on high alert.

"North Korea would also show signs that something was happening. Troops in more evidence, etc.

"If really serious, I suspect that the tone of radio and TV would become more sombre.

"More news would come out of China."

Such are the levels of secrecy when it comes to North Korth, accurate information is notoriously hard to come by.

When Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, died on December 17, 2011, state media did not report the news for more than two days.

 

[lpetrich]

So KJU is probably alive but mysteriously hidden. That is what happened to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov over the last months of his life. At one point, his illness was explained as a "bad cold" - Andropov Said Seriously Ill, Misses Parade - The Washington Post


Where Is Kim Jong-un? How Experts Track North Korea’s Leader | NYT News - YouTube - back in Apr 26

Spy-satellite pictures, for instance, showing where his vehicles are: a motorcade and a train.


Typhoon Bavi approaches North Korea, threatening nation already hit by floods - The Washington Post

North Korea releases new Kim Jong Un photos amid reports he's in a coma - "The pics appear to show a healthy-looking Kim leading a meeting on Tuesday of the politburo of the Workers Party to call for prevention efforts against the coronavirus and a typhoon, according to the Korean Central News Agency."


Bob Woodward obtains letters between Trump and Kim Jong-un for new book Rage | US news | The Guardian

Bob Woodward’s second book on the Trump White House has a title, Rage, and promises to reveal the secrets of “25 personal letters exchanged between [Donald] Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that have not been public before”.

In the letters, according to details from Simon & Schuster published on the book’s Amazon page on Wednesday night, “Kim describes the bond between the two leaders as out of a ‘fantasy film’, as the two leaders engage in an extraordinary diplomatic minuet”.

Kim Jong Un's sister gone from public view in possible regime hint

Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, has vanished from public view in what could be another sign that she’s taken more control in the regime, an expert said.

The North Korean despot’s sister, who not been spotted since July 27, may be lying low to offset speculation that he ceded some of his authority to her, the South Korean outlet Chosun Ilbo reported.

 

[Trausti]

It's just a flesh wound!

 

[ideologyhunter]

Are we sure that's Kim in the white tunic? Because I see Margaret Cho with a Rosie O'Donnell mullet. Just saying -- the pants are black to mask the camel toe.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So KJU is probably alive but mysteriously hidden. That is what happened to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov over the last months of his life. At one point, his illness was explained as a "bad cold" - Andropov Said Seriously Ill, Misses Parade - The Washington Post


Where Is Kim Jong-un? How Experts Track North Korea’s Leader | NYT News - YouTube - back in Apr 26

Spy-satellite pictures, for instance, showing where his vehicles are: a motorcade and a train.


Typhoon Bavi approaches North Korea, threatening nation already hit by floods - The Washington Post

North Korea releases new Kim Jong Un photos amid reports he's in a coma - "The pics appear to show a healthy-looking Kim leading a meeting on Tuesday of the politburo of the Workers Party to call for prevention efforts against the coronavirus and a typhoon, according to the Korean Central News Agency."


Bob Woodward obtains letters between Trump and Kim Jong-un for new book Rage | US news | The Guardian

Bob Woodward’s second book on the Trump White House has a title, Rage, and promises to reveal the secrets of “25 personal letters exchanged between [Donald] Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that have not been public before”.

In the letters, according to details from Simon & Schuster published on the book’s Amazon page on Wednesday night, “Kim describes the bond between the two leaders as out of a ‘fantasy film’, as the two leaders engage in an extraordinary diplomatic minuet”.

Kim Jong Un's sister gone from public view in possible regime hint

Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, has vanished from public view in what could be another sign that she’s taken more control in the regime, an expert said.

The North Korean despot’s sister, who not been spotted since July 27, may be lying low to offset speculation that he ceded some of his authority to her, the South Korean outlet Chosun Ilbo reported.

Woodward... oh goody... another fucking book. I'm sick of the books! You have something, get it out there! Trump is right in the sense that lots of people are making money off of his Presidency. The trouble is, Trump is giving them all of this material to print about.