Editor’s note: Markus V. Garlauskas led the U.S. intelligence community’s strategic analysis on North Korea as the national intelligence officer for North Korea from July 2014 to June 2020. The views expressed are the author’s and do not imply endorsement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Intelligence Community, or any other U.S. Government agency.

Last year, some speculated that the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, was getting ready to succeed her brother or at least was “number two” in power. But even though these