An item at yesterday’s Mail Online makes a nice companion piece to Kevin Whiteman’s recent report that Dennis Rodman’s BFF, Kim Jung-un, murdered his uncle via anti-aircraft machine gun. The article notes that the uncle’s wife, has died under “mysterious circumstances.”
Kim Kyong-hui, 67, whose husband Jang Song-Thaek was executed under Jong-un’s orders less than a month ago, is said to have either suffered a heart attack or committed suicide by North Korean media.
There has been speculation on her health and whereabouts since the death on 8 December of her husband, also 67, described as ‘scum’ by his 30-year-old nephew.
Mrs Kim, who was said to have been receiving treatment for heart disease, reportedly had a heart attack soon after her husband was killed in what is believed to be an attempt by Kim Jong-un to tighten his grip on North Korea.
The article goes on to quote Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo’s Waseda University and authority on North Korean affairs, as saying he would not be surprised if Mrs. Kim were dead given her history of ill health. But Shigemura sounded a cautionary note:
Her disappearance will inevitably cause a lot of political problems in Pyongyang. Kim Jong-un may be trying to cover her disappearance up for a while to consolidate his own political strength.