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As rumours of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's deteriorating health grow, his sister is poised to take control.

There have been suggestions Mr Kim is gravely ill since April 15 when he missed a celebration of the birthday of his late grandfather and the country's founder, Kim Il-sung.

But the deployment of a Chinese medical team to check on the 36-year-old on Thursday was a sign for many that the situation is more serious than first thought.

There is a history of cardiovascular ill health in the Kim family, which has ruled North Korea uninterrupted since the country's birth in 1948.

That coupled with Kim Jong-Un's heavy smoking and weight gain since taking power in 2011 have served to back up rumours he collapsed while clutching his chest while out walking earlier in the month.

(Image: Tass/PA Images)

Various sources are now claiming he is dead or in "a vegetative state" after botched heart surgery which the Chinese team was sent to urgently address.

And if he does die 31-year-old sister Kim Yo-jong is set to become the nation's first female leader in its 72-year history. But who is she and what would her rule look like?

(Image: Getty Images)

Early life

Just like her older brother she spent several years attending the exclusive English-language International School in Gümligen, Switzerland, under a false name.

It is said these years of isolated luxury in the Alps led to the siblings' bond growing, something which has translated in recent years in to their shared love of weapons development and authoritative rule.

After her return to North Korea she studied computer science in the capital Pyongyang.

Career to date

(Image: Getty Images)

She first came to the attention of the world at her father Kim Jong-il's funeral in December 2011 where she seemed to be taking a leading role despite not being part of the committee that organised it.

Since then, she has ascended through the ranks of the communist Workers' Party of Korea.

She stepped in for her brother once before due to ill health in October 2014 and has provided a close supporting role ever since, reportedly being the driving force behind his 'man of the people' image which has seen him rub shoulders with Basketball great Dennis Rodman and ride on fairground attractions.

Her official title since 2014 has been First Deputy Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department but she has also taken up a place on the Politburo, the nation's highest decision making body.

Would there be issues with her taking power?

The consensus opinion is no. The Kim family are seen as god-like to many of the poverty-stricken dictatorship's people.

There will be no question from them as to her legitimacy.

Since taking power in 2011 Kim Jong-un has systematically removed many of his father's advisors, building a younger and perhaps less critical senior group.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

That has not always been a peaceful affair and there are widely circulated reports he fed one of his uncles to dogs and blasted another with an anti-aircraft gun.

But Kim Yo-jong has stayed quiet amid this alleged barbarism.

She became the first representative of the North to visit the South since the war of the 1950s when she appeared at the 2018 Winter Olympics and has appeared at international summits.

Despite being the youngest of five siblings, three or four of which are still alive depending on which sources you trust, there is no realistic prospect of either of the others leapfrogging her and sizing power.

Two are half siblings and the other a "louche playboy" with no interest in politics.

What would it mean for peace in the region?

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

There is no suggestion Kim Yo-jong would be any less aggressive to rival states than her brother.

Last month she described South Korea as "a scared dog barking" after live fire exercises.

Some experts suggest she would be "keen to test her mettle" if she was to take power, just as Jong-un was when he succeeded his father in 2011.

Prof Natasha Lindstaedt, an expert on totalitarian regimes, told the Daily Mirror: “If she became supreme leader she would become god-like and every portrayal of her would do the same thing.

“It is possible she will adopt an even harder line than her brother in dealing with the rest of the world because of the level of poverty.

“There is nothing else – it is all they have. I do believe she is as tough as her brother and she has been very visible in recent times.

“Often new leaders feel they must be tougher than the previous one.”

With tensions on the peninsula always simmering and the war of the 50s never officially ending a change in leadership could cause significant problems.

If Yo-jong does adopt a harder line at a time where relations between the US and North Korean ally China are strained it could spell disaster.