North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s companion and former secretary is emerging as a key player in the nation after the autocratic leader’s stroke.
South Korean officials are keeping a close eye on Kim Ok amid some intelligence reports that she is not only nursing the ailing leader but also is signing official documents on his behalf.
“She is the closest person personally to Kim Jong-il,” said Marcus Noland, a North Korea expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “In some ways, she’s the one guarding the bedroom or hospital door. She would be in a position to convey his preferences.”
Kim, 66, reportedly suffered a stroke last month and is recuperating following emergency brain surgery — though North Korean officials deny the communist leader, who was last seen in public more than a month ago, is ill.
Kim Jong-il was groomed for 20 years to take over as leader, finally assuming the mantle after his father’s death in 1994 in the communist world’s first hereditary transfer of power. He has three sons — Jong-nam, Jong-chul and Jong-un — but does not appear to have anointed any of them as his heir-apparent.
The longer Kim — known to have diabetes and heart disease — remains bedridden, the greater the likelihood of a power vacuum, analysts say.
“If his health problem prolongs, some internal feuding for power will likely occur,” said Kang Sung-yoon, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University.
And Kim Ok may be poised to fill any void. Experts speculate the North Korean leader’s dependence on her during his illness may further bolster her political clout.
“If Kim Jong-il can’t communicate with others, her role will be larger,” said Kang Jung-mo, a North Korea expert at Kyung Hee University.
Little is known about her. Kim Jong-il is believed to have had three wives before taking Kim Ok as his consort several years ago.
She is said to be a pianist in her 40s who has served as the leader’s secretary since the 1980s. Furthering the intrigue, Kim’s late wife, Ko Yong-hi — mother of his two younger sons — hand-picked Kim Ok to replace her when she was dying of cancer, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it has some intelligence on Kim Ok but cannot confirm reports on her growing influence. The South’s National Intelligence Service also said it could not confirm the reports.
Kim’s circle of advisers likely includes military and ruling Workers’ Party officials, said Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at Sejong Institute in South Korea.
When Kim Jong-il dies, it may be days, weeks — or even months — before the public knows, Noland said.
“Then, figuring out who is running the country could take months if not a year,” he said.
On Wednesday, South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo ordered the government to stop leaking intelligence about Kim, saying the rampant speculation could end up provoking Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, South Korean Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong yesterday was the second in two days to call for an end to rampant speculation about the health of Kim Jong-il, saying it could heighten tensions with the communist state.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to