We should be very careful when hearing rumors and thinly-sourced reports about Kim Jong Un's health and speculation about an imminent or looming death. We've been here with his father and grandfather and were wrong too many times before. It's easy to speculate..1/

In Yonhape breaking news headline as I was typing, SKorean govt says "(rumors are) not true... there are no peculiar movements" ..2/ https://m.yna.co.kr/kr/contents/?cid=AKR20200421086500504

Well said, @johnsonrc01 ..3/ https://twitter.com/johnsonrc01/status/1252417529512751104?s=19

Here's the full Yonhap story saying rumors are wrong..4/ https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200421073800504

. @JessLee_DC took the words right out of my mouth Thanks for saving my thumbs & alerting some of us! ..5/ https://twitter.com/JessLee_DC/status/1252427823727300608?s=19

South Korean presidential office is now putting its weight behind earlier govt comment that rumors are false, accoriding to Yonhap breaking news
https://m.yna.co.kr/kr/contents/?cid=AKR20200421089300001 ..6/

Barring sudden changes, I will be speaking on CNN about the latest at 4.30pm Seoul ..7/

That said, sure, it's natural to wonder what if? We won't know til much later. Too many variables about future. He might not have designated a successor & no known son so there'd be much confusion. Can't entirely rule out sister (or wife like Chosun era) as next/acting leader..8/

Why not his sister? She's a woman & not the leader's son, but *IF* she's ever *suddenly* tapped, it could lead to much confusion, but she's Mt Baekdu bloodline so technically legit. Unless they take a page from Chosun dynastic era of his wife acting until child is old enough ..9/

Futuristic Qs about stable transfer of power depends on if KJU has a Day After plan in place. If none + sudden deathpower struggle likely among various actors. But he's so far proven to be quite smart.

All this to say, we won't know anything until we do about everything..10/

Yesterday, I cautioned against jumping to conclusions without official confirmation on imminent KJU death speculations & discussed succession complexities on CNN (Part 1 of 2) ..11/

Part 2 of 2 on KJU health rumors and speculative succession scenarios ..12/

Must read. The Kim dynasty's long history of health scares by @JonHerskovitz
@Bloomberg, one of the most well-versed journalists specialized in Asia & long-time Korea/Japan hand since his @Reuters years. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-22/north-korea-s-kim-dynasty-has-a-long-history-of-health-scares?srnd=politics-vp
..13/

Closing this thread with a must read by @junghpak1 ..14/14 https://twitter.com/junghpak1/status/1252556281497505797?s=19