Spotlight on North Korea: Kim, Jong-Un's Health Focus of Attention and With Normal Secrecy

(L-R) Kim, Il-Sung; Kim, Jong-Il; and Kim, Jong-Un

(One family in control since 1948)

Brilliant Comrade Kim, Jong-Un (in September 2021) 

(40 pounds lighter and new hair style)

Kim, Yo-Jong sister-leader-in-waiting

(Brother's health big question mark)

North Korea’s Leader, Kim, Jong-un, is pictured above: Now 40 pounds lighter, with new hair style, and uncertain health status reported on here from Business Insider with this headline:

“North Korea may be making plans for a future without Kim Jong-Un”

·  Rumors have swirled around North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong- Un, since he took power in 2011 from his father Kim, Jong-Il (age 70) after he died.

·  Long absences from public view have prompted speculation about his health and who would succeed him.

·  Political moves in North Korea suggests preparation for such a change, but experts said who comes next is unknowable.

Few world leaders are as closely watched and as shrouded in mystery as Kim, Jong-Un. Political and diplomatic intrigue has surrounded the dictator, believed to be in his late 30s, since he took power in 2011.

There have been frequent rumors that he is in poor health. His condition and daily whereabouts are so opaque that when he went unseen for several weeks in 2020 speculation about his death was rampant until he again appeared in public.

While Kim has proven the rumors wrong so far, developments in the past year suggest that behind closed doors, North Korea may be preparing for a day when Kim, Jong-Un is really gone.

His possible and likely successor is his sister, Kim, Yo-Jong (age 34), also pictured above. She is the one person he is closest to and one he trusts the most to take over (if that is in the proverbial cards – which is still unknown).

Full story continues at the Business Insider link.

My 2 Cents: Whatever the outcome, this is a very interesting story. This one Kim family has been the only rulers of North Korea ever since WWII ended in 1945 after Japan surrendered.

Japan not only lost the war but they also lost their 35-year grip on the entire Korean peninsula.

Then in 1948, Kim, Il-Sung (Kim, Jong-Un’s grandfather) became the founder and Great Leader of North Korea in 1948 until his death in 1994 (age 82). 

That is when his son, Kim, Jong-Il took over (and who was Kim, Jong-Un’s father).

North Korea has been in that one family’s hands since 1948 for nearly 74 years. Now more so as the world watches events there to see if there is a 4th Kim family member in the works to take over.

Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by.