Previous killings of Kim family members might “compel her to be more discreet and try to stay in power”, he added.
For example, Kim Jong Un’s and Kim Yo Jong’s uncle Jang Song-thaek was stripped of all his posts and executed in 2013.
“The Kim siblings conspired to shame their uncle and to press charges, all kinds of charges, not only treason, but also womanising and so on, being pro-China and so on, and had him humiliated, tortured and killed,” Lee noted.
ARE FEMALE HEIRS ACCEPTABLE?
Another aspect to this is whether North Korea – the only country to have carried out father-to-son succession twice – will accept a female supreme leader, given its Confucian values where male dominance has been the norm.
Lee said that while it will be unprecedented, the Kims’ overriding concern is that power remains within the family.
“Many people say it’s an impossibility, or the people won’t accept that. I disagree humbly,” he added.
Kim Jong Un has also been rumoured to have a son, but some analysts have rubbished the idea.
Lee pointed out that Kim Jong Un has never told former American basketball star Dennis Rodman, who forged an unlikely friendship with the North Korean leader in 2013 and visited him several times since then, about having a son.
“Besides Mr Rodman, people who have met Kim Jong Un have never said one word about having heard from Kim Jong Un himself or his wife, anything about their boy, their son,” Lee added.
Source: CNA
