Kim Jong-un was feared dead for over two weeks after North Korea‘s leader disappeared from the public eye ahead of a major holiday in April. The sudden disappearance of the supreme leader sparked international concerns about a potential successor and instability in the region. North Korea later claimed Kim had returned to work after sharing a series of photographs purportedly showing the leader at the opening of a new fertiliser factory but Dennis Rodman insisted “something is wrong” with Kim.
The basketball star over the years has built a good relationship with Kim Jong-un over the leader’s passion for the sport.
Discussing the rogue leader’s health on Good Morning Britain, Rodman suggested the increased appearance of Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, in a position of leadership could mean Kim is not as well as Pyongyang is trying to claim.
Rodman told GMB: “If you see his sister on tv running the country now you know something is wrong.
“You see his sister running the country, you know something is wrong.”
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Rodman added: “Remember when she went to South Korea before he did? She flew out before he did and then he went over after that.
“If you see his sister running the country is because she’s next in line. She’s next in line to take over.”
Kim Yo-jong has been long rumoured as a potential successor to Kim Jong-un as the current North Korean leader is believed to have at least two children but both underage.
While North Korea is a deeply patriarchal society, with power having passed on from son to son since the creation of the country in 1949, Kim Yo-jong has taken on an increasing number of roles within her brother’s government in the past few years.
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Secrecy has long been at the heart of the Pyongyang regime, with defectors sharing the little details available over the years.
One North Korean refugee predicted in 2015 Kim Jong-un’s reign would be the shortest-lived in Pyongyang’s history due to its “instability.”
Speaking to CNN, the defectors said: “It is Kim Jong-un’s regime that is the most unstable. And it is going to be the shortest.”
He also warned that the current leader had purged his inner circle, including top members of his own family.
In 2013, the country’s news agency confirmed that Kim had removed his own uncle from meetings and accused him of forming factions against the state, corruption and “depraved” acts such as womanising and drug abuse.
