Foreign Media: "Kim Yo-jong to Act if Kim Jong-un Faces Health Issues" (Comprehensive)

Yomiuri "French Medical Team's January North Korea Visit Accelerates Preparations for Acting Authority"
RFA and The Guardian Also "Kim Yo-jong Most Likely to Take Power if Kim Jong-un's Health Deteriorates"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] According to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, in the event of an emergency such as an abnormality in the personal safety of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un, his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, the First Deputy Director of the Workers' Party of Korea (photo), is prepared to act as the proxy. Other foreign media also identified Kim Yo-jong as the only second-in-command capable of filling the leadership vacuum left by Chairman Kim.

On the 22nd, Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing sources from South Korea, the United States, and Japan, that since the end of last year, preparations have been underway in North Korea for Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's younger sister, to serve as the acting supreme leader in emergencies. According to the report, an internal decision was made to "concentrate all authority in Kim Yo-jong" if Chairman Kim becomes unable to govern due to death or other reasons.

Yomiuri also reported that regarding Kim Jong-un's health, information has emerged that a French medical team visited North Korea in January due to a complex worsening of hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes. The preparations for Kim Yo-jong to act as proxy accelerated after that. Kim Yo-jong, a member of the "Baekdu bloodline," referring to the direct family of Chairman Kim Il-sung, plays the role of the second-in-command within North Korea and is said to have deep trust from Chairman Kim, Yomiuri conveyed.

Besides Yomiuri, other foreign media also named Kim Yo-jong as the successor to Chairman Kim. On the 21st (local time), Katherine Bothe, a research analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), stated in an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA), "Even if something happens to Chairman Kim Jong-un's personal safety, it is most likely that First Deputy Director Kim Yo-jong will take power, and the North Korean regime is unlikely to become unstable." Earlier, on the previous day, the British Guardian described Kim Yo-jong as "a figure at the heart of the North Korean regime" and "the most important and only successor to continue Chairman Kim's propaganda." The Guardian also speculated that Chairman Kim and Kim Yo-jong studied together as students in Bern, Switzerland, from 1989 to 2000, which likely created a profound sense of shared destiny.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.