Itar-Tass reported on Tuesday that North Korea could announce this month an eventual successor to leader Kim Jong-il:
An announcement about the appointment of a successor could be made as early as this month, timed for the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the [North Korean Labour Party].The source added that the successor would be one of Kim Jong-il's sons, all of whom had "roughly equal chances," an indication that North Korea truly is the world's only communist dynasty.
The 63-year-old Kim Jong-il has three known sons, Jong-nam, Jong-chol and Jong-un, from two women.
The eldest, 34-year-old playboy Jong-nam, is considered too much of a bumbler to be a leader, after being deported from Japan in 2001 on suspicion of trying to enter the country using a forged Dominican Republic passport so that he could visit Tokyo Disneyland. South Korean intelligence suggests Jong-nam fell out of favor over the incident and has been the target of two assassination attempts.
According to the Reuters article, the youngest of the three, Swiss-educated Jong-un, is believed to be Kim's current choice to succeed him, but he may be too young now for Kim to name him as his successor.
With none of the three sons great choices, Pyongyang may be in for some turmoil as Kim Jong-il grooms any of them to be a successor. The Dear Leader may not have the same undying loyalty that his father did when he chose to make his son the future head of the country. Will the military or the government's support staff stand idly by if they feel that the country is being placed in the hands of an incompetent or worse? Sphere: Related Content
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