Kim Jong-un's reply to Syrian dictator fails to quash health speculation

Seoul: Kim Jong-un has reportedly thanked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his good wishes on the birthday anniversary of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, challenging rumours that the North Korean leader might be dead.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signs a guestbook next to his sister Kim Yo Jong, right, inside the Peace House at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone in 2018.Credit: AP

North Korea's state media channel, the Korean Central News Agency, published the text of reply that Kim allegedly sent on Wednesday.

"Kim Jong-un, in his message, expressed his deep thanks to the president of the Syrian Arab Republic for sending his heartfelt message of greeting, reflecting the warm respect for president Kim Il-sung, who is always alive in the hearts of the Korean people and the world progressives, on the occasion of his 108th birth anniversary," the state agency reported in an English-language article.

But the report did not address the questions raised on Tuesday about Kim's health - which flared after he skipped an April 15 commemoration of his grandfather's birthday.

It's North Korea's most important event, and Kim, 36, hadn't missed it since inheriting power from his father in late 2011.

Kim has been out of the public eye for extended periods in the past, and the regime's secretive nature allows few outsiders to assert confidently whether he might be unwell, let alone incapacitated. Still, questions about the North's political future are likely to grow if he fails to attend upcoming public events.

Kim is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and a strong personality cult has been built around him, his father and grandfather. The family's mythical Paektu bloodline, named after the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, Mount Paektu, is said to give only direct family members the right to rule the nation.

That makes Kim's younger sister, senior ruling party official Kim Yo-jong, the most likely candidate to step in if her brother is gravely ill, incapacitated or dies. But some experts say a collective leadership, which could end the family's dynastic rule, could also be possible.

"Among the North's power elite, Kim Yo-jong has the highest chance to inherit power, and I think that possibility is more than 90 per cent," said analyst Cheong Seong-chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.

"North Korea is like a dynasty, and we can view the Paektu descent as royal blood so it's unlikely for anyone to raise any issue over Kim Yo-jong taking power."

Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo-jong is in charge of North Korea's propaganda affairs, and earlier this month was made an alternate member of the powerful Politburo.

She has frequently appeared with her brother at public activities, standing out among elderly male officials. She accompanied Kim Jong-un on his high-stakes summits with US President Donald Trump and other world leaders in recent years. Her proximity to him during those summits led many outsiders to believe she's essentially North Korea's No. 2 official.

"I think the basic assumption would be that maybe it would be someone in the family" to replace Kim Jong-un, US national security adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters on Tuesday. "But again, it's too early to talk about that because we just don't know, you know, what condition Chairman Kim is in and we'll have to see how it plays out."

The fact that North Korea is an extremely patriarchal society has led some to wonder if Kim Yo-jong would only serve as a temporary figurehead and then be replaced by a collective leadership similar to ones established after the deaths of other Communist dictators.

"North Korean politics and the three hereditary power transfers have been male-centred. I wonder whether she can really overcome bloody socialist power struggles and exercise her power," said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea.

A collective leadership would likely be headed by Choe Ryong-hae, North Korea's ceremonial head of state who officially ranks No. 2 in the country's current power hierarchy, Nam said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, and Choe Ryong Hae, vice-chairman of the central committee of the Workers' Party, arrive for the official opening of the Ryomyong residential area, in Pyongyang, North Korea.Credit: AP

But Choe is still not a Kim family member, and that could raise questions about his legitimacy and put North Korea into deeper political chaos, according to other observers.

Other Kim family members who might take over include Kim Pyong-il, the 65-year-old half-brother of Kim Jong-il who reportedly returned home in November after decades in Europe as a diplomat.

Kim Pyong-il's age "could make him a reasonable front man for collective leadership by the State Affairs Commission and regent for the preferred next generation successor," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. "However, elite power dynamics and danger of instability might make this an unlikely option."

AP