A South Korean politician has claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in a coma, after news of Kim delegating some of his powers to his other aides, including his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, was widely reported internationally.

Former aide to late South Korean president claims Kim Jong Un in coma

Chang Song Min, the former South Korean president's aide who made the allegations on Aug. 21, 2020, said that the delegation of powers by Kim Jong Un was proof he is unwell, reported Korea Herald.

Chang served the late Kim Dae Jung, who was the President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003, as a political affairs secretary and as head of the state affairs monitoring office.

South Korean spies reported on Aug. 21 that Kim Jong Un had delegated some of his powers to his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, which effectively makes the younger Kim the de-facto second-in-command with responsibility for North Korea's relations with South Korea and the United States.

"The bottom line is that Kim Jong Un still holds absolute power but has turned over a bit more of his authority compared to the past," said Ha Tae-keung, a South Korean MP who sits on the national assembly’s intelligence committee.

Contrary assessments

According to South Korea's National Intelligence Agency, the North Korean leader's new ruling system set up does not appear to be linked to any major health problem.

However, Chang insisted in a social media post that no North Korean leader would entrust any of his authority to another person, unless he was too sick to rule or was removed through a coup, reported Korea Herald.

The politician claimed that Kim Jong Un was bedridden, and unable to rule the country, adding that he had obtained the information from a source in China.

He shared that Kim was "comatose", according to his source, and said that the recent photographs of the leader released by North Korea were fake.

“I assess him to be in a coma, but his life has not ended. A complete succession structure has not been formed, so Kim Yo Jong is being brought to the fore as the vacuum cannot be maintained for a prolonged period,” Chang said.

While he insisted that the North Korean leader is in a coma, he said that his sister was not the successor despite the power restructuring.

Kim Yo Jong in the spotlight, but succession still in question

The North Korean leader's younger sister has been in the international spotlight in recent months, after rumours of Kim Jong Un's death spread earlier this year.

Said to be her brother's confidante, she accompanied him to both Trump-Kim summits in Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam.

She also represented North Korea in the 2018 Winter Olympics held at Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Kim Yo Jong has also spoken on behalf of the regime, demonstrating her central role in the Kim dynasty, and the confidence her brother has placed in her.

Analyses

According to Chosun Ilbo, the possibility of Kim Yo Jong taking over if something happens to her brother is rather high, as there are some similarities between the titles bestowed on her brother and father when they were respectively the heir apparent at the time.

Leonid Petrov, a North Korea expert at Sydney's International College of Management, told The Guardian that the younger Kim, being a significant stakeholder in the regime's survival, "plays a pivotal role" in the country's domestic and foreign campaigns.

However, he said she will not become more than her brother's most trusted ally due to the Confucian nature of the country, where "seniority and masculinity are respected".

Bong Young Shik, a research fellow at Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies, told Mothership that it is highly unlikely for his sister to become the next leader due to the country's discriminatory feudal system when it comes to gender equality.

"Furthermore, she does not have any track record as a military leader or charismatic political leader," Bong said.

While he does not discount the possibility that the younger Kim could be one of the leading political figures in the future, he also said that she has only been "as powerful as her brother allows her to be".

"Without Kim Jong Un in power, I don't think Kim Yo Jong's power will be sustainable," he said.

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Top image via Korea Summit Press Pool/Getty Images