Did Kim Yo-Jong Have Her Brother, Kim Jong Un, Killed?
Let's take a look at these rumors.
Getty As the rumors about Kim Jong Un's reported death continue to circulate, rumors about what, exactly, caused his demise is being circulated in kind, as well.
And while the White House and other Western media are waiting, in fact, for an official release from U.S. intelligence that either confirms or denies Kim Jong Un's demise — rumors continue to circulate about what exactly caused Kim Jong Un's death, which is just that at this juncture: a rumor.
The latest rumors suggest that Kim Jong Un died, not from a botched heart operation, but from a "hit" courtesy of his own family members!
Did Kim Yo-Jong have her brother, Kim Jong Un, killed?
Let's look at what we know about these rumors.
It's unclear wherere the rumors started from, but they gained steam when shared by a Bollywood director.
While the rumor mostly flew on social media, they roared back to life when Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma tweeted, "Is there any merit to the rumour that his sister paid the surgeon to do it ? Am Just curiously asking the North Koreans?"
The Kim's half-brother was assassinated in 2017.
Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo-Jong's half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, was assassinated, reportedly by the Kim siblings themselves. Kim Jong Nam, who was killed when nerve gas was smeared on him at a Malaysian airport, was allegedly a CIA informant, which earned him an assassination by the Kim siblings. That implies, though doesn't outright state, that they wouldn't have a problem assassinating someone who "got in the way."
Kim Yo-Jong has a reputation for being even more ruthless than her brother.
Thanks to her presence in the North Korean political field — first serving alongside her father, Kim Jong-Il, and then as an advisor to her brother Kim Jong Un — and her varying roles in North Korean propaganda, Kim Yo-Jong has a reputation for being even more ruthless than her brother, Kim Jong Un.
However, Kim Yo-Jong and her brother, Kim Jong Un, are "extremely close," and have been since they were children.
Despite what looks to be a contentious relationship, Kim Yo-Jong and Kim Jong Un are, reportedly "extremely close" and they have been since they were children. In fact, when they were both shipped to Switzerland for their studies, the siblings were reportedly each other's only friends, because they felt "socially isolated" from their European counterparts.
In the event of Kim Jong Un's death, Kim Yo-Jong wouldn't be guaranteed the right to succession.
Even if Kim Jong Un did, indeed, die, Kim Yo-Jong wouldn't be guaranteed the right to succession. Kim Jong Un's children — presuming they were old enough — would inherit the title of Supreme Leader, and failing that, the Kim's uncle Kim Pyong-Il would take control of the country.
It doesn't seem like Kim Yo-Jong had a motive to kill her brother, Kim Jung Un.
Overall, it doesn't seem like Kim Yo-Jong had a motive to kill her brother, Kim Jung Un. However, because North Korea is a "closed country," official information is difficult, if not impossible, for the West to come by. Therefore, there's no way to really know, at this point, if indeed this is a possibility.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.