Kim Jong-un In Coma, Sister Kim Yo-jong To Take Command: Report

Amid reports of Kim Jong Un's deteriorating health, a former aide of South Korea’s late president Kim Dae-Jung has said that Kim is in coma and that his sister Kim Yo-jong has been made the de facto second-in-command with authority and responsibility delegated to her for managing relations with the US and South Korea.

According to an international media report, Chang Song-min, who served as the political affairs secretary to South Korean late president took to social media and claimed that a source told him that Kim would not pass the authority unless he is too sick or ousted in coup.

Chang Song-min told the South Korean media, “I assess him to be in a coma, but his life has not ended. “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 also said that photos of the North Korean leader recently are fake.

He explained that power restructuring does not make Kim Yo-jong the successor to the North Korean ruler.

Kim Jong Un made fewer public appearances this year while there were even speculations of his death. There were also reports of a failed heart surgery that left him bedridden or he was killed. However, all rumours were dusted when he made an appearance at the opening of a fertiliser factory in Suchon near the North's capital, Pyongyang.

Kim attended a meeting of the ruling Worker's Party politburo on April 11 and after that, he was not seen in public. He also missed the birth anniversary celebrations of state founder Kim II Sung on April 15 and this gave rise to numerous speculations about the health of Kim.