A Woman As President?

@ChipmunkErnie Very hard to know for sure, because the government is so secretative.

Wikipedia gives a biography of the family right to the present, and a tangled soap-opera it is too; difficult to follow thanks to a single surname (Kim) and assorted honorifics that look like alternative individual names. Similarly with the nation's politics.


Kin Jong Un has ceded some power to his sister, Kim Yo Jong, making her second-in-command and head of relations with South Korea and the USA..

However, South Korean intelligence services trying to understand what is happening, found Kim Ju Ae, the duaghter of Jong Un (do they alternative name forms? *) and his wife Ri Sol-ju, has completed successor training and been designated officially as that. She has attended various official military functions, been involved in policy-making and, as a rather bizarre indicator, visited the " Kumsusan Palace of the Sun", a symbol of the bloodline.

I suppose her parents are considering the younger the successor, the longer the time in power. Kim Jong Un seems in good health and not likely to die soon. He was born in January 1983 or 4 (curious uncertainty), so only in his early-forties.

Ju Ae reportedly has two siblings, one younger, one older; whose political positions are obscure.



Jong Un's sister, younger than him, is indeed involved at high level in politics, and represented her country at the 1018 Winter Olympics in S. Korea.

Of Jong Un's two brothers, Jong Chul is reportedly unambitious and more interested in playing the guitar. His present whereabouts are not known. Half-brother Jong-nam was openly critical of the regime, leading to being murdered. Jung-Un also had his uncle and uncle's entire family murdered, fearing their possible rivalry.

.....

* The "alternative names" are honorific:

Great Leader (Kim Il Sung)
Dear Leader (Kim Jong Il)
Respected Comrade (Kim Jong Un)

In 2012, aged only 29, Jong Un was also "promoted" to the rank of Marshal and made Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, and Chaiman of the Central Military Commission. Despite no military experience.

@ArishMell The documentary I saw reports the sister as head of the intelligence agencies and basically in charge of repressing the people; the doc made a point of contrasting the sister's public Olympic persona with what her actual job inside North Korea is.

@ChipmunkErnie Yes - the country being very anxious to appear normal to outsiders.

It is more or less a prison. It has long had a fortified border with South Korea to stop people escaping that way, but in recent years has also made it far harder to flee across the border with China.

@ArishMell I believe Kim Jung Ils father although dead as a doornail is still the Prime minister or something. It's a crazy place.

I wonder if she will adopt the crazy haircut?

@JimboSaturn "President", but with the memorial prefix, "Eternal".

@onewithshoes Probably little different. A Regency is usually a temporary measure, and likely the Kims will have considered their options if any such becomes necessary. They won't want to lose their grip on their nation.

I wonder if they have also thought of the succession if the daughter becomes "Supreme Leader" and "General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea" - inheriting Il Jong's two main titles - and presumably marrying, but remaining childless.

Il Jung's grandfather and founder of the system, Il Sung, is respected officially as the "Eternal President" - but I don't know if that is influenced by cultural memorial tradition or merely family narcissism.

@MrBrownstone Only one day? What happened?