N. Korean leader's 3rd son to join party leadership in Sept.+

BEIJING/PYONGYANG, Aug. 6 Kyodo - The third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Jong Un, is expected to join the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea at a meeting of core party delegates in early September, paving the way for eventual succession, sources
well informed about North Korean affairs said Friday.

It is believed that at the meeting Kim Jong Un will be elected as a member of
the party's Central Committee. He is also expected to be elected as a member of
the party's Political Bureau Presidium at a Central Committee general meeting,
which is to be held shortly after the gathering of core delegates, the sources
said.
Jang Song Thaek, director of the Administration Department of the Central
Committee, is also likely to be elected as a member of the Political Bureau
Presidium at the Central Committee general meeting, according to the sources.
Currently, Kim Jong Il, 68, is the only member of the presidium.
Jang, the brother-in-law of Kim Jong Il who is believed to be a guardian of Kim
Jong Un, was promoted to vice chairman of the National Defense Commission in
June.
Even if Kim Jong Un joins the party leadership, it is highly unlikely that
North Korea will announce such a move.
As the next step, the sources said, the party is expected to convene a congress
-- its top decision-making forum -- in 2012 and Kim Jong Un is likely to be
officially appointed as Kim Jong Il's successor then.
A party congress has not been held since the 6th session in 1980, at which Kim
Jong Il made an official debut as successor to the country's founder, his
father Kim Il Sung.
North Korea has set a goal of ''opening the gate to a great, prosperous and
powerful socialist nation'' in 2012, the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung.
While Kim Jong Un is expected to strengthen his standing at the party in the
coming years, he is believed to be trying to build an unshakable power base by
winning loyalty from the military.
Analysts are paying close attention to how he will get involved in the North's
decision-making process on issues such as the nuclear standoff, inter-Korea
relations, and relations with the United States and Japan.
According to the sources, the core delegates meeting, to be held for the first
time in 44 years, will elect members and alternate members of the Central
Committee.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported in late June that
the meeting would elect the party's ''highest leading body,'' without
elaborating.
At present, the number of Central Committee members totals about 135, down from
145 elected at the 6th Party Congress. The 1980 congress elected five members
of the Political Bureau Presidium.
When North Korea marked the 98th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung on
April 15 this year, Kim Jong Il told his aides that people ''should be a little
more quiet'' about the rumored succession of power, a North Korean source said.
Kim Jong Il's health ''has been recovering smoothly, so there is no need (for
the leader) to rush to stage an official appearance of Mr. Jong Un,'' the
source said.
Kim Jong Il reportedly suffered a stroke in the summer of 2008.
The source also indicated that Kim Jong Un often accompanies the leader for his
''field guidance'' trips to factories, farms, military units and other
locations across the country.
Following the leader's call for ''quiet,'' North Korea has apparently slowed
down preparations for the succession of power. For example, schoolchildren have
apparently stopped marching on Pyongyang's streets while singing ''Footsteps,''
a song believed to laud the third son.
==Kyodo