[CaptainCrunch]

I wonder if they did the surgery using a rusty can opener and a anti-aircraft cannon.



This could be one of two things


1) Its a false report to test loyalty in the government, and inspire the people when he makes a miraculous recovery. They're reporting that there is no unusual activity happening in North Korea, when his father died there were troops on the street immediately and the North Korean military went on full alert.


2) He's actually dying or dead, but the North Korean power structure is unusually complex, mainly because the Kim's have always maintained a balance between the Military and the North Korean internal security and intelligence apparatus by playing them off against each other. At the same time, there has also always been a pro Chinese faction in the government vs a what would generously be called a North Korean self reliance faction, again the Kim's were good at playing these factions against each other, its why careers as a senior member of the government are um short lived.


As for successors in the government, and I'm going off of memory, his sister would be considered the front runner, Kim Yo-Jung took a similar path to her brother in that her first real key position was running the countries propaganda and agitation wing which gave her a pretty big seat at the table with NK intelligence. She was also the one who molded her brothers internal image, Set up all of the Rodman visits and used him for propaganda internally. She was granted a appointment to the politburo and was given leadership of their State Security, in other words, she's a spook. She knows where the bodies are buried. She was supposedly also the one behind the ruthless purge of any remnants of her fathers circle of leaders. They recently tried to polish her international image with the Olympics, warming the relationship with South Korea and the Trump visits.


But make no mistake, she's not a reformer if she gets into power, she's a hardliner.


Another possibility is her sister Kim Sol-Song, who like her sister has risen to power, she's rumored to be a key decision maker in the Supreme Command group of the North Korean Military, she's also supposedly the chief Vice Chairperson of the Korean Workers Party.


Kim Jong-Jul the surviving brother was at one point considered to be the successor to his father but was pretty much dismissed as too feminine, now he lives quietly and plays a guitar in a band (You will applaud him)


I would expect if this is real that it will come down to one of the two sisters, or we could see a fairly short lived government and a Chinese supported coup. If another Kim rises in the government expect to see a vicious purge.


There is an Aunt that is a member of the politburo, however it sounds like she's not really interested in the duties that come with it.