What Happens to North Korea if Kim Jong-Un Dies? Nuclear Weapons, Disappearances & the Kim Family

the Supreme Leader of North Korea a country so secretive and shut off from the rest of the world it's known as the 'Hermit Kingdom' chances are you've seen Kim make the news for launching missile tests or threatening the leaders of other countries but recently he made headlines for something unexpected he went missing for weeks no one saw him in public and the North Korean government said nothing about where he was it became massive international news and rumours started swirling Had Kim died? Was he in a coma? Had he caught coronavirus? but they weren't the only questions being asked if Kim's no longer Supreme Leader What happens next? and would it be the end of North Korea as we know it? I decided to get in touch with some people in the know to find out more about North Korea itself and what the future might hold but first it's important to ask why do we even care? well it comes down to two words nuclear weapons North Korea is one of a handful of countries that has them & when you pair that with a leader like Kim jong-un who isn't afraid to threaten other countries people like to keep an eye on also, there's pretty much nowhere in the world quite like North Korea for example the entire reason that people started to suspect that Kim jong-un was missing is because he didn't rock up to his grandfather's birthday now that doesn't really seem like a big deal but in North Korea the birthday of Kim Il-sung is arguably the most important day on the calendar Kim Il-sung was the founder and first Supreme Leader of the country all the way back in the 40s when Korea was split-up after the end of World War 2 today, he holds the title of Eternal President president even though he died in 1994 if that sounds strange it's because it is North Korea is the only country in the world that is considered a 'necrocracy' which is basically when a government has a dead person in charge obviously it's tough to make decisions when you're dead so his son Kim Jong-il took over as Supreme Leader after he died and when Kim Jong-il died his son Kim Jong-un took over you see leadership in North Korea is all about the mythology and bloodline of the Kim family these three are sort of viewed as gods in North Korea or at least that's what the government wants the people to believe the people worship him because they know that if they challenge him they end up in a concentration camp or dead kids were told that Kim Il-sung knew what you were thinking so don't think anything bad about him so kids were afraid to even think negative thoughts about Kim Il-sung growing up the North Korean people have been essentially brainwashed to believe that the regime is the source of all wisdom and success painting the Kim family as gods is one of the reasons why Kim Jong-un can just disappear say he is sick or has just had an operation experts reckon the North Korean government would rather keep their citizens in the dark than make him look weak or vulnerable this mythology and worship is just one of the ways that North Korea keeps its citizens under extreme control North Korea is a brutal dictatorship with the world's worst human rights record there's no foreign media they can't even watch mainland Chinese TV all they hear is this propaganda day after day they're able to use surveillance to track what you're doing informants to tell people what you're up to through spies and so forth you're not allowed to use the Internet no one is allowed out the only people that are allowed out are government officials and then they are closely watched so, if Kim jong-un was no longer Supreme Leader would it make life better for the people of North Korea let's take a look at who may be next in line Kim Jong-un does have children but apparently they're too young to be in the mix right now he also has two older brothers but they were already passed over for the top job when Kim Jong-il died as for what the future might hold for these two Kim Jong-nam was actually assassinated in Malaysia in 2017 and Kim Jong-chul apparently couldn't really care less about politics he's a real guitar fan he's a bit of a rocker he's popped up a few times over the years in London going to Eric Clapton concerts So, who does that leave? one of the names that's been mentioned is Kim Jong-un's uncle Kim Pyong-il most of his career he's been out and about as a diplomat for North Korea he's never really been seen as a successor he was passed over before and then exiled to Europe for diplomatic posts some people consider him a 'dark horse' if you want to go the family route I think if he was really meant for the job he would have gotten it before the other option and one experts agree is the most likely is Kim Jong-un's younger sister Kim Yo-jong she's already in power she's number two in the political Olympus of North Korea she's from what I understand extremely ambitious and somewhat ruthless she's being groomed for something because she's been at his side for the last few years but the problem is outsiders don't know whether the North Koreans are cool with a female leader they don't seem to be the most progressive types so they might still want a male leader if Kim Jong-un's uncle or sister became the new Supreme Leader would we see a less aggressive North Korea that's more likely to cooperate with the outside world? according to the experts probably not I think it would be pretty much business as usual in order to get to the top you have to be ruthless in order to stay in the top you have to be even more ruthless you know Kim Jong-un had 500 or so of his distant relatives and key figures executed when he came to power so I think that there's no guarantee that a change of leadership would necessarily bring a degree of moderation or reform to the system in North Korea there is another option that experts see as a possibility and that's the military actually seizing control from the Kim family and that potentially could emerge as a very dangerous scenario where you actually have internal unrest even civil war with the North Korean people caught in in the middle however some experts say a military coup and civil war is probably unlikely both the senior party officials and military top brass live a very comfortable life in North Korea they understand any instability any regime change would put them in danger let's just say the military does find a way to take over and keep North Korea together you may think that the Kim family losing control would be a good thing but again it's not that simple who's to say that some general power-hungry general in the North Korean military is any better or wants to change the country any more they might even be more hawkish and want to do more missile tests crank up the nuclear program again so where does this leave us? after weeks of intense debate and rumours about the future of the country in true North Korean fashion Kim Jong-un randomly reappeared at the opening of a fertiliser factory with a bit of a limp and no explanation as to where he'd been for now at least it looks like Kim's position as Supreme Leader is safe but with no clear successor the future of North Korea is still a big question mark so for Australia I guess the hope would be that whether it's the Kim's or the military or whoever keeps running the country that they gradually make reforms they gradually open the door a bit and try and normalise North Korea because otherwise it will always remain as this potential flashpoint in the north-east Asia region

Channel: Behind the News

Views: 5,928,571

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Id: AKjEe22bKIY

Length: 7min 57sec (477 seconds)

Published: Thu May 14 2020