Kim Yo Jong could be North Korea's worst dictator yet

“I haven’t seen any evidence, any indication of how she might rule, but my speculation — given the reputation and history of the family — is that she would rule with an iron fist,” retired US Army Col. David Maxwell said.

Maxwell, who co-authored the Pentagon’s original 1999 contingency plan with South Korea for the collapse of the North’s regime, noted there was widespread speculation that Kim Jong Un “would be more open to the outside word” when he succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.

“That hasn’t been borne out,” said Maxwell, now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“I think we have to assume that every successor is worse than the last.”