(LONDON) — Two Americans are among those still missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday, ABC News has confirmed.
Christopher and Neda Morvillo are among six people still unaccounted for who were aboard the U.K.-flagged Bayesian vessel which sank during a violent storm.
Christopher Morvillo is a partner at law firm Clifford Chance and represented the yacht’s owner — British tech tycoon Mike Lynch — in his recent fraud case brought by Hewlett Packard. He is a former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The search resumed Tuesday morning for the six people missing from the Bayesian. Among the bodies that may be trapped inside the vessel are those of Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Some of the 15 people who were rescued are either still recovering or have now left the hospital.
(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is conducting successor programs with implications that he has his 11-year-old daughter Kim Ju Ae in mind “as of now” to be his successor, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a closed-door briefing to the members of the National Assembly on Monday.
Curiosity over Kim Jong Un’s preteen daughter has been accumulating since she first accompanied him holding hands to the ICBM test launch site in November 2022 wearing a white padded jacket and bright red flat shoes.
She appeared again three months later at the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the army. She walked the red carpet with Kim while dressed in a formal long black coat highlighted by a fur scarf and beret. The father-daughter duo proudly received military salutes while more than a dozen high-level North Korean officials in full uniforms tagged behind.
“Dressing up in dark, extravagant clothes makes her look like a mini version of Kim Jong Un, and that is exactly what the regime wants people to see of her,” Professor Jeon Young Sun of Konkuk University told ABC News. “The regime is deliberately differentiating her from other kids her age, to show that her ancestry is of the revered Kim leadership.”
Since her first appearance in 2022, Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s state newspaper, reported her whereabouts at least 28 times. Kim Ju Ae was spotted at missile launch sites, military parades and drills most of the time, including rare tag-along to factories and city construction sites.
“Important to note that she was never depicted at a place that was child-like, never somewhere an ordinary father would take his 10-year-old daughter to,” Professor Andrei Lankov of Kukmin University told ABC News. “The regime doesn’t want her to look like a child, she should look like an emerging boss. Although it is a bit early to say for sure, if she is to become the leader, she could say that she spent all her childhood visiting military facilities.”
Until now, analysts in Seoul have been skeptical of the speculation that Kim’s 11-year-old daughter may become the next North Korean leader, given that North Korea is a strongly male-centered society. Kim Ju Ae’s frequent public appearances have not only got analysts scratching their heads but also the public inside the hermit kingdom. A North Korean defector who fled to the South last October told ABC News that the public opinion was not favorable to the young fancy daughter where he came from.
“When I first saw Kim Ju Ae in the news, from head to toe she was what we call ‘impure element’ to the society,” Mincheol Lee told ABC News referring to Kim Ju Ae’s imported designer clothes and long hair when she appeared in the papers. “I was angry to see that she could dress up like she wanted to because she was the leader’s daughter while a farmer’s son like myself had to follow the strict suppression from the People’s Party,” referring to North Korea’s strict social policies on people’s outfits and hairstyles especially imposed upon the younger generations.
According to the NIS, the North Korean regime is adjusting how often the young Kim Ju Ae appears in public in certain events — mostly at sensitive militaristic occasions and less at economy-related matter — and to what degree she should be propagandized to the people. Based on updated intelligence the spy agency confirmed that they now see Pyongyang as planning the succession program for real.
“Kim Jong Un had a difficult time consolidating his power and position due to his father the late leader Kim Jong Il’s early passing and consequently getting hasty successor lessons,” Cheong Seong Chang, director of Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at Seoul-based Sejong Institute, whose analysis pointed to Kim Ju Ae to be the successor from her first appearance, told to ABC News. “Kim Jong Un’s unfavorable health conditions may be the background for beginning the successor program so early.”
The spy agency has not completely ruled out the possibility of a change in successor, based on the fact that North Korea did not finalize their announcement on the successor and the chance of having another undisclosed sibling.
“South Korean authorities have speculated for a long time that there is an elder son among Kim Jong Un’s children, but they found no existing evidence to back the guess, and have recently turned prudent,” Cheong said.
The spy agency also updated on Kim Jong Un’s health. Kim is estimated to weigh about 300 pounds and is believed to be at high risk for heart disease, the agency said. The agency estimates that his body mass index is in the mid-40s, far exceeding the normal standard of 25.
It is understood that this is due to stress, cigarettes and alcohol, the agency said. If his current health condition is not improved, the possibility of cardiovascular disease, which is a family history, is being closely monitored, the agency said. Seoul’s NIS also reported that they have detected indications that North Korean officials are looking for new drugs to treat Kim.
(FORT BLISS, Texas) — Travis King, the U.S. Army soldier who ran across the border from South Korea to North Korea last year will plead guilty, to desertion and assault charges as part of a plea deal, according to his attorney.
At a court hearing on Sept. 20 at Fort Bliss, Texas, King is expected to plead guilty to five of the 14 charges he is facing. The five charges include one for desertion, three for disobeying a lawful order, and one for assault on a non-commissioned officer.
King’s attorney, Franklin Rosenblatt, disclosed the plea deal in a statement provided today to ABC News. The possibility of a plea deal for King’s case first came to light in mid-July.
“US Army Private Travis King will take responsibility for his conduct and enter a guilty plea,” Rosenblatt’s statement read. “He was charged by the Army with fourteen offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He will plead guilty to five of those, including desertion.”
“He will plead not guilty to the remaining offenses, which the Army will withdraw and dismiss,” he adds.
“Travis’s guilty plea will be entered at a general court-martial. There he will explain what he did, answer a military judge’s questions about why he is pleading guilty, and be sentenced,” said Rosenblatt. “Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, and to all outside of his circle who did not pre-judge his case based on the initial allegations.”
At the Sept. 20 hearing a military judge will determine whether to accept the deal and how much time King should serve in a military prison.
In July, 2023 King crossed into North Korea triggering an international incident when he was held by North Korean authorities for more than two months after he dashed into North Korea at the Joint Security Area at the DMZ. Prior to joining the tour group that brought him to the DMZ King had escaped from his Army escort at the airport where he was to have boarded a flight to take him back to the United States.