Kim Jong Un In Coma, Sister Takes Over: Reports

The North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un has slipped into a coma and his sister, Kim Yo Jong, is ready to take over his official responsibility, several reports that have surfaced recently indicate.

The reports started to surface after a South Korean diplomat, Chang Song-min, speculated during a media interview that Kim has possibly slipped into a coma, “but his life has not ended.”

Song-min, who was a former aide to South Korea’s late president Kim Dae-Jung, said that even though the formal succession structure has not been formed yet, his sister is being given the responsibility of the office.

“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,” he said during the interview.

This is not the first time that reports concerning Kim Jong Un’s ill-health have surfaced. Just a few months ago, there were speculations that after a critical cardiac surgery, the supreme leader has slipped into a coma and is left in a vegetative state. Reports of him having contracted coronavirus infection also surfaced around the same time.

However, pictures released online after weeks of speculations ended the rumors as he could be seen doing perfectly well in Pyongyang and the experts said that there is no evidence he has had surgery. Such reports of him not faring well health-wise surface quite often, mostly when he is not seen in the public for a long time.

This time, however, the reports have surfaced just a day after South Korea’s spy agency said that Kim Jong Un has delegated a few parts of his authority to his close aides, including his sister Kim Yo Jong.

Last week, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service had said that “Kim Yo-jong, the first vice department director of the Workers’ Party Central Committee, is steering overall state affairs on the delegation,” while adding that her brother continues to possess the “absolute authority.”