North Korea has never announced who would follow leader Kim Jong Un in the event he is incapacitated, and with no details known about his young children, analysts say his sister and loyalists could form a regency until a successor is old enough to take over.
South Korean and Chinese officials have publicly cast doubt on reports that Kim was gravely ill following a cardiovascular procedure, after his absence from a key state anniversary event on April 15 triggered speculation about his health.
Vice President of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation and author of Wiki at War: Conflict in a Socially Networked World and Private Sector, Public Wars – Contractors in Combat, Lt Col James Carafano, believes conflict with China will bring US and Europe closer with with Dan & Amy: