Name? Ri Chun-hee
Westphalian identity? North Korean
Age? 74
Why is she in the news? Different news about Kim’s health conditions have come out in the past few days. Some reported he was perfectly fine, some that he is recovering from heart surgery, some that he died, some that he flew off to the US to break Social Distancing guidelines with his good friend Trump. We at the Westphalian and RAIA Group do not believe in speculating and rather focus on facts and scenarios based on different outcomes. (See on Social Media) Only the appearance of Ri Chun-hee will bring certainty.
Why do we care? She is North Korea’s best known news presenter. Officially she is retired but she comes back for special announcements. In 2017, she announced that North Korea had successfully conducted a nuclear test, wearing bright pink and brimming with joy.
Why should you care? But in case we see her in all black in the next few weeks we can be certain of uncertain weeks ahead of us. An unstable North Korea is the last thing we need right now. Go ahead and bury your hopes for a random general rising from the ashes like a phoenix, it will not happen. But what we might witness, certainly not see, is a bitter fight for power and leadership behind the scenes. Will his sister succeed him? Or someone else?
Who else cares? Choe Ryong-hae, he is someone else. A long time friend of the clan and in the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly. He enjoys a lot of respect, a vast network and support within the Bureau.
Any further comments? Just imagine this would have happened four years ago. Multilateralism and responsible world leader’s in offices all over the world ready to handle this situation. Now we are in the midst of a pandemic and have a disinfectant-gurgling, “stable genius” in the White House.
