GUWAHATI: Acording to several media reports, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in a coma and his sister Kim Yo-jong will be exercising de facto control over national and international matters. Several media outlets reported the development quoting a former aide of South Korea’s late president Kim Dae-jung.
Chang Song-min, who served Kim Dae-jung as a political affairs secretary and as head of the state affairs monitoring office, claimed 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 the Hindustan Times.
“I assess him (Kim Jong Un) to be in a coma, but his life has not ended,” he was quoted as saying by The Korea Herald.
“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 added.
Chang’s claims come months after the North Korean dictator had not made a public appearance amid speculations of his deteriorating health. He was last seen presiding over a Workers’ Party politburo meeting on April 11 before a top security adviser to the South’s President Moon Jae-in downplayed rumours and said Kim Jong Un was “alive and well”.
He was then seen cutting the ribbon at the opening of a fertilizer factory on May 2, KCNA reported.
