NORTH Korea's Kim Jong Il has anointed his 26-year-old son – said to be competitive, proficient in English and a heavy drinker – as the next leader of the reclusive communist state.
Two major South Korean newspapers said yesterday that North Korea's military, the party and government officials have been informed that Kim Jong Un, the youngest of three sons, is in line to take the world's first communist dynasty into a third gene
ration.
The announcement was made in the days after North Korea's provocative nuclear test on 25 May, the report said .
The son is already being hailed as "Commander Kim," and North Koreans are learning the lyrics to a new song praising him as the next leader, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said.
South Korean MP Park Jie said that the regime is already "pledging its allegiance to Kim Jong Un." He said he was briefed by South Korea's spy agency.
The apparent anointment comes at a time of mounting tensions over North Korea's 5 April rocket launch and last week's nuclear test. The North also appears to be preparing to test-fire an array of medium- and long-range missiles, reports said. Global powers are discussing how to rein in Pyongyang for its nuclear defiance.
Analysts say the sabre-rattling is part of a campaign to build unity and support for a successor to Kim Jong Il, who reportedly suffered a stroke last August. Kim has three sons but had not publicly named an heir to lead the nation of 24 million.
Kim Jong Il, once pudgy and renowned for his love of cognac and gourmet meals, made his first state appearance since the reported stroke at the opening session of the new parliament in April. He was greyer, considerably thinner and limping slightly.
He is believed to want to name a successor by 2012 – the centenary of the birth of his father, North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung.
The regime called the 5 April launch of a satellite into space part of the campaign to show off the country's scientific advancements. The US, Japan and others called it a cover for a test of long-range missile technology.
Last month, the regime stepped up the pace and launched a "150-day battle" urging citizens to work harder to build the country's economy.
"Before 2012, North Korea must convince the army and the public that Jong Un is the best successor," said Atsuhito Isozaki, assistant professor of North Korean politics at Tokyo's Keio University. "To pave the way for Jong Un's leadership, it is highly likely that North Korea will turn recent nuclear and missile tests into his achievements."
Analyst Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute, a South Korean security think tank, noted that the "politically driven" 150-day campaign is set to culminate in early October, about the time of the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party. He said North Korea could hold a national convention then – its first in nearly 30 years – formally to announce Kim's successor.
Mr Cheong said that, in the 1970s, Kim Il Sung, known as the "Great Leader," arranged for his son to take credit for a "70-day battle" before he was tapped as his father's successor.
Kim Jong Il – the "Dear Leader" – formally assumed leadership on his father's death in 1994.
Even by North Korea's opaque standards, very little is known about the son, whose youth is a potential problem in a society that adheres closely to the importance of seniority.
He was the second son of former dancer Ko Yong Hi, who died of cancer in 2004.
He studied at the International School in Bern, Switzerland, in the 1990s.
A classmate recalled him as timid and introverted but an avid skier and basketball player who was a big fan of the NBA star Michael Jordan and action film star Jean-Claude Van Damme.
A car arrived every day after school to pick him up, reports said; classmates and school officials thought he was the driver's son.
The eldest son, Jong Nam, 38, was considered the favourite to succeed his father until he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001. Kim considers the middle son, Jong Chol, too effeminate for the job, according to his former chef.
The full article contains 727 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
