 Recently, there have been mixed reports concerning the health of the North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Due to a reported failed heart surgery, the North Korean head of state is said to either be in a vegetative state or even dead. However, nobody really knows except those close to the Supreme Leader. And so far, their lips have been sealed. So this raises the question, if the Supreme Leader were to die, who would be next in line? Now, nobody really knows the structure or guidelines of how the next successor is chosen or at least this information isn't open to the public. But assuming that the line of succession works similar to a monarchy or will, the basic idea is that the closest of kin would take over the Lyeongseong throne. Primo-Geniture That is how the North Korean line of succession has operated over the last century. Since the split of North and South Korea in 1948, North Korea has been spearheaded by the eternal leader Kim Il-sung. When he died in 1994, his son, Kim Jong-il, was made Supreme Leader and Eternal General Secretary. He ruled for 17 years. When he died in 2011, the Kim we know today, Kim Jong-un, was crowned the Supreme Leader. Well, that sounds pretty easy, right? The next leader will be his son. Well, the only problem is that much like the rest of North Korea, Kim's immediate family is, well, a mystery. It was reported that he married in 2009 and have three children. It's estimated that one son was born in 2010, making him at most 10 years old. Now, 10 years old is far, far too young to raise a country of 25 million people, which means he will most likely have a regent or acting supreme leader that would serve in his stead till he came of age. But it seems unlikely that the country would have a 10-year-old boy as their leader, leading us to the next best option. Senority He actually has an older brother, Kim Jong-chul. However, Kim Jong-chul has reportedly shown no interest in politics at all. Instead, he was described as being just a really talented guitarist. Other than that, the only information about Jong-chul is that he likes Eric Clapton and American basketball, so most likely a non-factor. Which leads us to the most likely candidate, Kim Yeo-jung, 32-year-old daughter of Kim Jong-eul and sister to Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Now, Kim Yeo-jung isn't just a sister of Kim Jong-un. She's actually one of the big players in the North Korean government and has made a name for herself outside of Kim Jong-un. She started her career in politics at the young age of 23 in 2012 as she was working in a position in the National Defense Commission. Since then, she was promoted to be the Vice Director of Propaganda and Agitation Department. She's been involved in many diplomatic summits and affairs as the representative of North Korea. Even attending the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, she became the first member of the Kim family to visit South Korea since the Korean War. As it stands right now, Kim Yeo-jung seems to be the most likely outcome. However, as Bloomberg News stated, she's a woman in a society rigidly controlled by men. While many North Korea watchers say bloodline is more important than gender, others are skeptical. Some experts say that North Korea would never have a female leader and the people would seek to continue a patriotic-led society. So what if succession was appointed not by blood but instead by position and experience, much like the CEO of a company or something like the US presidential line of succession where the vice president would take over for the president? So in that context, who's next? Which brings us to succession by merit. This concerns a certain Choi Dong-hae. So who exactly is Choi Dong-hae? He is the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and first vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission. He is also the vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea. So all those fancy titles probably don't mean a whole lot to someone unfamiliar to the North Korean government. In other words, he is Kim Jong-un's number two. The second in command to the North Korean military and state. Of all the people in this video, he holds the most experience and has the longest tenure in a leadership capacity. He has served under all three North Korean leaders so far. In fact, he has been in government longer than both Kim Jong-un and his sister combined, getting his start in 1981. He was even awarded the title Hero of the Republic in 1993. You'd be hard-pressed to find another person in North Korea with a thicker resume than Choi Dong-hae. If Choi Dong-hae does succeed Kim Jong-un, this wouldn't be the first position that Choi Dong-hae has had that was previously only held by a member of the ruling Kim family, so it wouldn't be completely out of the norm. But still, very unlikely. Which comes to our very last scenario. I'll call this the Hollywood ending, or the Lion King. Let's rewind a little bit. Kim Jong-il, the previous Supreme Leader, had many children, but we can't say for certain how many he's had. We've already talked about his younger sister, Kim Jo-young, the Eric Clapton fan, Kim Jong-chul, and of course, the Supreme Leader himself, Kim Jong-un. But, he was actually not the oldest sibling, or even the oldest son. Which leads us to Kim Jong-nam, the oldest son of Kim Jong-il. He was once upon a time considered the heir apparent to the Yongseong throne. However, he fell out of favor with Kim Jong-il back in 2011 due to being caught with a fake passport, apparently trying to visit Tokyo Disneyland. Additionally, it was stated that he was a strong critic of his father, as well as being a strong proponent of capitalism. Eventually in 2003, he was exiled from North Korea. However, in 2017, Kim Jong-nam was killed in Malaysia due to an apparent assassination by, which experts suspect, North Korean agents. Someone had grabbed him from behind and splashed a liquid on his face, and a woman covered his face with a cloth laced with liquid, later to be revealed VX nerve agent. However, Kim Jong-nam did leave behind a son, Kim Han-sol. Kim Han-sol was raised very differently than the rest of his relatives. Because of his father's situation and exile, Kim Han-sol was raised in China and Macau. He then went to school in Hong Kong, Herzegovina and then France. Being raised in a very capitalist center in Western society, he expressed guilt for his family's role in North Korea and has been a harsh critic of his uncle's actions. In 2017, two North Korean agents were caught on suspicion of plotting to harm Kim Han-sol. And since the assassination attempt, Kim Han-sol's whereabouts have been unknown until today. Because he is the son of the oldest brother, normal primogeniture standards would place him on the top of the succession list. Now it's highly unlikely that Kim Han-sol would ever come back to Korea. And if he did, it would be an even smaller chance that he would be considered for succession. But it can't help people from calling him the Prince of Pyongyang. What if Kim Han-sol became the next supreme leader? And how vastly different would his administration be than his relatives? I've always dreamed that one day I will go back and make things better.