In North Korea, the Fourth Man Could Be a Woman

The New Yorker

Amid reports of Kim Jong Un’s failing health, it appears that the most obvious successor to rule the country, despite its sexist political system, is his sister, Kim Yo Jong.

"The conventional wisdom is that a woman could never ascend to the leadership of North Korea, a country stuck in a time warp of passé fashions, hairdos, music, and social mores. A toxic mix of Confucianism and totalitarianism indentures women to their husbands, to their in-laws, and, ultimately, to a male-dominated regime. With a few exceptions (the best known being the vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui), North Korea’s senior cadres are almost entirely male. The Supreme People’s Assembly—which currently has six hundred and eighty-seven members—is supposed to set aside twenty per cent of its seats for women, but the percentage has frequently dipped lower. And the primary function of these token deputies seems to be to brighten the optics, by wearing the jewel-toned, floor-length Korean gowns best known by the South Korean term hanbok. Since 1948, North Korea has been ruled by three men—the founder, his son, and his grandson—but, nevertheless, it is now conceivable that the fourth man will be a woman. That is because, with reports that Kim Jong Un is in failing health, the most obvious successor is his thirtysomething sister, Kim Yo Jong.

"Kim Jong Un was a conspicuous no-show at ceremonies marking his grandfather’s birthday, on April 15th—the most important holiday on the North Korean calendar and an event that he has never missed since becoming leader, in 2011. A series of missile tests scheduled to coincide with the holiday went off without the customary footage of Kim watching from a viewing stand or peering through binoculars. North Korea’s official news agency, KCNA, continues to report on his purported activities (such as greetings and birthday messages sent to allies), but no reliable photographs of him have emerged since April 11th.

"Last week, CNN reported that he was in “grave danger,” after having undergone surgery (an assertion echoed by a report from a Japanese magazine on Saturday that claimed he was brain-dead after a failed operation to insert a stent), while the Daily NK, a respected online newspaper based in Seoul, said that he was recovering after a cardiovascular procedure. “Something seems to be wrong,’’ the paper concluded, on Friday. Until “state media provides decisive evidence of his whereabouts and well-being, rumors will thus likely continue to emerge—and uncertainty will prevail.” So far, that hasn’t happened." . . .