A North Korean defector, Ji Seong-ho, has claimed he is ’99 percent sure’ that its leader, Kim Jong Un is dead.
This is contradictory to confirmation by top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
DAILY POSt recalls that Moon Jae-in had denied speculations that Kim was dead.
Jae-in told CNN that the North Korean leader is “alive and well.”
But, Seong-ho, who earned a proportional representation seat of a minor party in the country’s April 15 elections, told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that Kim died after his recent surgery and that North Korea will announce the news this weekend.
He, however, said there are complicated issues regarding his succession.
“I’ve been informed that Kim died last weekend’ after cardiovascular surgery.
The defector said Kim’s sister Kim Yo-jong, who was named an alternate member of the ruling Workers’ Party’s powerful Central Committee Politburo last month, was in line to succeed her brother but added that the secretive state was ‘grappling with a complicated succession issue’.
‘I’ve wondered how long he could have endured after cardiovascular surgery. I’ve been informed that Kim died last weekend.
“It is not 100 percent certain, but I can say the possibility is 99 percent. North Korea is believed to be grappling with a complicated succession issue.”