The ailing aunt of Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea , may be the next senior member of the regime to fall victim to the blood letting that is gripping Pyongyang's "old guard". 
 
 Reports in South Korea suggest that Kim is lining up his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong to step into the supporting role that is presently played by Kim Kyong-hui, who is rumoured to be battling cancer, alcoholism and depression linked to the suicide of her daughter in Europe in 2006. 
 
 Kim Kyong-hui, 65, is the estranged wife of Jang Song-thaek, who was ousted from his post as the vice chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission earlier this month and has not been seen since. 
 
 Two colleagues who were reportedly found guilty of corruption and activities that ran counter to the policies of the Workers' Party of Korea were executed in public. 
 
 Kim has replaced many of the senior officials who served his father, Kim Jong-il, with younger henchmen who are loyal to his regime. 
 
 "He is trying to bring in a younger generation of decision-makers and has kicked out the older ones, which is causing a lot of problems in the elite in Pyongyang," Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University and an authority on North Korean affairs, told The Telegraph. 
 
 "He has been able to do that in the party and the bureaucracy, but he does not have the power to do that with the military," he said. 
 
 But replacing Kim Kyong-hui might be taking the cull too far, he added. 
 
 The daughter of Kim Il-sung, the revered founder of the nation, Kim Kyong-hui has long been considered untouchable by any of the various factions in Pyongyang and her replacement - either as part of the ongoing purge or due to ill-health - could trigger a renewed power struggle. 
 
 "If she disappeared or died, the regime would be badly shaken," said Professor Shigemura. "It might even be difficult for it to survive." 
 
 Meanwhile, Jang Song-thaek's nephew has arrived back in North Korea from his post as ambassador to Malaysia. Jang Yong-chol, his wife and two 20-something sons were sighted boarding an Air Koryo flight bound for Pyongyang in the Chinese city of Shenyang. 
 
 An aide of Jang Song-Thaek, is also reportedly seeking asylum in South Korea after fleeing his country. The aide, according to South Korea's YTN news network, is understoof to have managed funds from Jang. ||||| 1 of 3. A paramilitary police official stands guard next to a fence, which blocks a road towards the South Korea embassy, in Beijing December 6, 2013. 
 
 SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea could be facing its most serious defection in 15 years as South Korean media said on Friday that a man who managed funds for the ousted uncle of leader Kim Jong Un had fled the isolated country and sought asylum in South Korea. 
 
 The aide, who was not named, was being protected by South Korean officials in a secret location in China, cable news network YTN and Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter. 
 
 South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) had no knowledge of the defection, lawmakers said in Seoul after they were briefed by the head of the spy agency. 
 
 YTN said the man managed funds for Jang Song Thaek, whose marriage to Kim's aunt and proximity to the young leader made him one of the most powerful men in North Korea. 
 
 Jang was relieved of his posts last month, according to the NIS, and the television network said the sacking could have followed the aide's defection. 
 
 YTN said the aide also had knowledge of funds belonging to Kim and his father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. If true, the defection would likely be the first time in 15 years a significant insider from the Pyongyang regime has switched sides. 
 
 Impoverished but nuclear-capable North Korea and the rich, democratic South are still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. 
 
 A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, Kim Eui-do, and officials at the Foreign Ministry said the defection report could not be confirmed. 
 
 Jung Chung-rae, a member of the South Korean parliament's Intelligence Committee, told reporters the intelligence service had said it did not know about the defection, but that two of Jang's relatives who were serving in embassies overseas had been recalled. 
 
 "It is true that Jang's brother-in-law and nephew have been called back to North Korea," Jung cited the NIS as saying. 
 
 Jang himself is alive and appears to be safe, South Korean officials have said. 
 
 Jang has survived previous purges and official displeasure, thanks largely to his sometimes tempestuous marriage to Kim Kyong Hui, the daughter of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. 
 
 "WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION," CHINA SAYS 
 
 North Korea's ruling Kim family is deeply venerated and feared. It is ruthless about protecting its security and privacy and little is known about the inner workings of the regime. 
 
 The aide requested asylum about two months ago and was currently in China, YTN said. In Beijing, there were no signs of any additional security around the South Korean embassy. 
 
 Asked about the South Korean media reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "We have noted the reports, but do not understand the situation." 
 
 South Korea's intelligence service has also said two of Jang's close associates were executed last month for corruption. 
 
 These reports have not been confirmed either. 
 
 YTN said Jang's aide fled to China some time in late September or early October and that Jang could have been sacked because of this. 
 
 "A source familiar with the matter said the aide immediately requested asylum from the South Korean government and South Korean officials are currently protecting him at a secret place in China," it said. 
 
 China, Pyongyang's only major ally, usually resists allowing defectors from North Korea to seek asylum elsewhere. 
 
 YTN said the aide tried to escape to Laos, a route favored by other defectors, but Chinese authorities prevented him from leaving. 
 
 U.S. officials have also sought custody of the aide, the television station said. 
 
 About 25,000 North Koreans have defected to the South but few of them were highly placed in Pyongyang. 
 
 The major defectors include Hwang Jang Yop, a high-level Worker's Party ideologue who was the architect of the Juche (self-reliance) ideology of North Korea, who sought asylum in the South in 1997. 
 
 Kim Jong Un's aunt, his mother's sister, fled to the United States in 1998, media reports have said. 
 
 In 2002, a North Korean nuclear scientist named Kyong Won Ha escaped the country, although few details are known. 
 
 (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Jack Kim; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)
– Earlier this week came the news that Kim Jong Un had reportedly given his high-ranking uncle, Jang Song Thaek, the boot; now, the Telegraph reports that his aunt—Jang's estranged wife—may be canned next. Kim Kyong Hui is Kim Jong Il's sister, and is said to be doing poorly, sick with cancer and struggling with alcoholism and depression in the wake of her daughter's 2006 suicide. The Telegraph points to South Korean reports that indicate Kim may want his little sister, Kim Yo Jong, to take his aunt's place. One Japanese expert on North Korea sees this as part of Kim's effort to "bring in a younger generation of decision-makers"—his aunt is 65—but notes that it could be a perilously high-profile move. "If she disappeared or died, the regime would be badly shaken." Speaking of high-profile, Reuters reports that North Korea could have seen "its most serious defection" in a decade and a half. South Korean media today published unconfirmed reports that Jang's unnamed money manager fled North Korea about two months ago, and is being kept safe by South Korean officials in a secret location in China. There is some speculation that the defection could have been at the root of Jang's alleged sacking; Reuters notes that the aide may be privy to information about Kim's money.