Professor Steve Tsang also believes despite reports suggesting Kim's 32-year-old sister Kim Yo Jong would succeed him if the 36-year-old has died, there were no guarantees, and relations with the West, and future efforts to denuclearise the peninusla, largely depend on what happens next. Speculation has been mounting for several days about the health of the Supreme Leader, with conflicting reports suggesting he is either dead, in a vegetative state, or alive and well.