KIM’S “DEATH” REPORTS DENIED: BY Joe Van Langenberg

Reports emanating from the grapevine, that Chairman & Supreme Leader of North Korea, 36-year-old Kim Jong-Un has passed away, have been denied by the state’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) & categorised as hyperbole, or mass exaggeration for instant effect.

Hot on the heels of widespread speculation that Kim had succumbed to cardiac surgery, as a consequence of morbid obesity, excessive smoking & high stress levels; due to being constantly under the pump; Kim was supposedly seen by US sources, walking in the port city of Wondan, days after the chilling rumours surfaced. Why the US sources were in close proximity to Kim to begin with, when he had been chilling out, could be anyone’s guess. And whether the youthful leader happened to be doing, what he was doing, hasn’t been determined thus far, on account of the country’s news mouthpiece, which in its characteristic manner has chosen to remain zipped-up. Hitherto, the veracity of the “death” reports has not been authenticated by KCNA. And that’s something which casts doubts on Kim’s demise.

That been said, assuming that the man is factually dead, it then begs the pertinent question: “Who will be his successor”? According to political watchdogs, the most likely one to succeed Kim, will be his younger sister Kim Yo-Jong; whom some political experts describe as, being wet behind the ears. Others however disagree, given that 33-year-old Kim Yo-Jong is as ruthless as her brother & has been cutting her political teeth, under not only Kim’s tutelage; but also her late father’s as well. Kim Yo-Jong was at her brother’s side during many high-profile summits in the past & more recently in 2018 & 2019, during meetings he had with US President Donald Trump.

She personally witnessed the execution of her uncle Jang Song Thaek, which is said to have been personally carried out by Kim Jong Un back in 2013. It’s then logical to assume, that Kim Yo Jong keeps her velvet hand in an iron glove at all times, which she could use in a heartbeat, without any twinge of conscience. Kim Jong Un has been the most recalcitrant, idiosyncratic, intolerant & polarizing figure in world politics.

His up, close & personal meetings with US President Donald Trump was seen as a landmark & unprecedented encounter. And it triggered the possibility that the nation’s nuclear testing would be cut to the bone. Nonetheless, that wasn’t to be. And if the very recent launching of a missile by North Korea is anything to go by, it could be highly unlikely that there will be a change of heart anytime soon.

Whether any credence can be given to Kim’s “death” remains a moot point. But as stated earlier, his “death” or incapacitation, could create not only a political vacuum in North Korea, but also consolidate the hand of friendship between South Korea & the United States; both of whom have not only axes to grind with the secretive state, but also have ulterior motives to capitalise on!