A researcher says that an interim or collective leadership could rule North Korea for an unspecified period following the death of leader Kim Jong-il.

Kim Gwang-jin, a former North Korean escapee and a visiting researcher at the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, made the statement during a lecture hosted by the Brookings Institution on Tuesday.

He said that due to the deteriorating health of Kim Jong-il and the inexperience and age of heir apparent Kim Jong-un, an interim collective regime led by the North Korean leader’s brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, could fill the power vacuum.

The researcher said the U.S. needs to prepare for social and political changes within North Korea, predicting that the next North Korean government will inevitably discard the current leader’s policies and choose to reform and open up the reclusive country.

Kim added that such changes could result in the North choosing to abandon socialism.

Kim worked at the Singapore branch of North Korea’s Korea National Insurance Corporation before escaping to South Korea in 2003.