N.Korea's Kim moves to anoint youngest son as heir
(For full coverage of North Korea, click [ID:nSP431049])
* North Korean officials asked to pledge loyalty to son
* South Korean government briefed lawmakers on succession
* Swiss-educated son is seen as most capable by analysts
By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL, June 2 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has told top officials to pledge loyalty to his youngest son, signalling his anointment as heir to the family dynasty that has ruled since the state's founding, a lawmaker and South Korean media said on Tuesday.
Kim, 67, is thought to have suffered a stroke in August that raised questions about his continued control. Analysts have said the North's recent military grandstanding, including a nuclear test last week, may be aimed at helping him solidify power so he can name a successor. [ID:nSEO111269]
North Korea has asked the country's main bodies and its overseas missions to pledge loyalty to Kim's youngest son Kim Jong-un, various South Korean media outlets quoted informed sources as saying.
"I was notified by the South Korean government of such moves and the loyalty pledges," Park Jie-won, a member of the opposition Democratic Party, said in a statement.
He declined to name his source but the South's Yonhap news agency said Park was among a group of lawmakers briefed on Monday night by the country's spy agency about the succession plans.
Kim Jong-un, born either in 1983 or early 1984, was educated in Switzerland and intelligence sources have said he appears to be the most capable of Kim's three known sons. [ID:nSEO180039]
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.
The succession is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the highly secretive North, with Kim's plans only known to his small inner circle. This recent round of reports have provided the most detailed information to date.
Yonhap quoted an informed source as saying the request for an oath of loyalty came shortly after the nuclear test on May 25, which was hailed by the North's propaganda as a crowning achievement in Kim Jong-il's "military first" rule.
Leading South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo quoted an informed source as saying: "North Korean leadership is educating senior officials at major security authorities with an emphasis on the justification of father-to-son succession over three generations."
SUCCESSION CHALLENGE
Kim Jong-il was groomed for decades to take over from his father and state founder Kim Il-sung, but his three sons are unknown to most North Koreans, which would make the succession of any of them a daunting task.
North Korea's official media for decades let it be known that Kim Jong-il would take over, but it still took him at least two years to hold power fully after his father died in 1994 and to win the respect of the powerful military and ruling communist party, analysts said.
In April, Kim Jong-il put to rest any doubt about whom he sees as his second in command when he elevated his brother-in-law Jang Song-taek to a powerful military post, analysts said. [ID:nSEO372442]
Analysts said they see the energetic and urbane Jang, 63, as the real power broker after Kim who will groom the successor. Jang, who once fell out of Kim's favour, has in recent year's been Kim's right hand man, they said. (Additional reporting by Kim Junghyun, editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Dean Yates)
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
Follow Reuters