August 26, 2020: North Korea has issued new pictures of leader Kim Jong Un, just days after a South Korean diplomat claimed he was in a coma and that his sister will take over control over the national and international matters in the country.

On Wednesday, Kim Jong Un had gathered the politburo to call for prevention efforts against the coronavirus and to discuss an impending typhoon. The meeting was held to assess some defects in the anti-epidemic work for checking the inroads of the malignant virus, said KCNA in a statement.

Chang Song-min, a former aide to South Korea’s late president Kim Day-Jung took to the social media to say that Kim Yo-Jong has been made the de facto second-in-command. He said no leader in North Korea would entrust the leadership to anyone unless he was too sick to rule or was removed through a coup.

He said that the authority and responsibility have been delegated to Kim Jong Un’s sister for managing relations with the US and South Korea. He added that he had got this information from a source in China.

“I assess him to be in a coma, but his life has not ended. “A complete succession structure has not been formed, so Kim Yo-jong is being brought to the fore as the vacuum cannot be maintained for a prolonged period,” he added.

He also said that the photos that were released recently of the Supreme Leader were fake. This year the rumour mills were abuzz as Kim had made fewer public appearances. There were speculations of his death as well due to a failed heart surgery.