North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s Successor
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has signaled the anointment of his youngest son as heir to the ruling family dynasty as the rival Koreas bolstered their militaries along a disputed sea border on Tuesday.
Analysts believe that Kim Jong-il, whose power base stems from his support for the military, may be using the growing tension to give him greater leverage over power elites at home to nominate his own successor. It has raised alarm in the region over how far iron ruler Kim, 67 and thought to have suffered a stroke last year, may be prepared to take his latest military grandstanding.
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. 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. Very little is known about Kim Jong-un, whose youth is a potential problem in a society that adheres closely to the importance of seniority.
“There is a significant link between North Korea’s recent military provocations and succession issues,” said Lee Dong-bok, an expert on the North’s negotiating tactics. The succession has been one of the most closely guarded secrets in the highly secretive North.
Tags: Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, North Korean, Succession