Will North Korea’s next Supreme leader be worse?
BY: IAN SCHRAUTH
Staff Writer
The term “Rocket man” is a term not only coined by Elton John, but also by President Donald Trump to describe the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Kim is the current supreme leader and dictator of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known simply as North Korea. For years, the country has been hidden in secrecy by its three leaders, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jung Il, and as of 2011, Kim Jung Un. However, this possibly could change sometime in the future to include Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jung. Most of the world learned about her existence when Kim Jung Il passed away in 2011 from a photo of her crying with her older brother. When Kim Jong Un took power, he promoted her to head the ”Propaganda and Agitation department”, which is responsible for keeping the North Korean population in check with their cult, and keeping them completely loyal to her brother.
Even though her title ranks well below anyone else in the North Korean Regime, the fact that she is in the right bloodline gives her a huge advantage over everyone else, and will possibly be the first female Supreme Leader of North Korea. We know this because of some hints in North Korean media. The media in this part of the world is very calculated, according to Su-jin Chun, an author and journalist at JoongAng Ilbo. Chun also stated that “Sometimes we see Kim Yo Jong standing next to her brother, Kim Jong Un, and she’s, like, totally carefree, and nobody, except for Kim Yo Jong can be that carefree standing next to Kim Jong Un”. A more recent example comes from a 2019 propaganda photo on Mt. Paektu, a place where the Korean people and culture originated, according to Korean Mythology. Each North Korean leader has been photographed on this mountain at some point. In this specific photo, Kim Yo Jung is right next to him on a white horse with a star emblem that represents the Mt. Paektu dynasty on the horse’s head. According to Chun, not everyone can ride that specific horse with that specific emblem.
But if Kim Jong un were to pass away, would his little sister break the cult and make drastic changes for the good of North Korea? I don’t think so.
The first thing that says she would be exactly the same is because she was so good at running the current scheme, that Kim Jong Un promoted her to a Member of the Stater Affairs Committee, North Korea’s top decision making body. She is also rumored to be promoted to First Secretary of the Party, which is basically Kim Jong Un’s most top-ranking deputy and right-hand-man (or right-hand-woman in this case). I do not think that she would want to give up that power.
The second reason why I believe this is because in 2020, she started issuing many statements in her own name directed at South Korea’s leader. These statements include calling South Korea’s leaders “puppets” and calling them their “unchaining enemy”. She then ordered the destruction of an office building built specifically for North and South Korea relations, calling it “useless.”
Kim Yo Jong is not just the most powerful woman in the North Korean regime, but she is the most powerful person who is not a supreme leader. All of this information leads me to believe that when Kim Jong Un passes away, she will not only be the next supreme leader, but she will make things a living hell.
