courtesy Creative Commons

Jang has been in the Worker’s Party for 30 years and has held positions in the military, secret police and running special economic zones. Kim Jong-Un has far less experience.

He attended school in Bern, Switzerland. In September 2010 he was named a four-star general. He has only had two years of experience and many said it was too soon when he was named crown prince.

North Korea already appears to be setting up a new system of collective leadership, according to The Daily Beast. This new system will give the military greater power.

Jang Sung Taek is 65 and married to Kim Jong-Il’s younger sister.

Kim Jong-Un is Kim Jon-Il’s youngest son and is still in his 20s.

"Everything could potentially change," Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing told the L.A Times. "The only person who had the experience and who held the exclusive power is gone."  

Kim Jong-Un’s oldest brother, Kim Jong Nam, was assumed to be the heir, according to the L.A. Times, but was passed over after being arrested at Tokyo’s Narita airport trying to sneak in with a fake passport.

Reach associate news editor Hannah Madans here.