ID :
43096
Thu, 01/29/2009 - 16:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/43096
The shortlink copeid
N. Korean leader's son leaves world guessing with succession talk
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's first son raised eyebrows with his first-ever public remarks on a power succession in Pyongyang, but his cryptic message kept the world guessing about who is next in line.
Seoul analysts were discordant as they tried to interpret whether Kim Jong-nam
truly has "no interest" in power, as he claimed, or is simply being mindful of
his father.
Succession is a forbidden issue in the communist North, as an official decision
may immediately turn the absolute leader into a lame duck. Health issues
regarding Kim, who turns 67 next month, have stoked external speculation that a
power transfer may be imminent.
In the first such remarks coming from a family insider, Kim Jong-nam, the eldest
of the leader's three sons, told foreign reporters on Saturday, "I myself have no
interest" in the succession issue. "That is for my father to decide," he added.
Kim had arrived in Beijing on a plane also carrying Wang Jiarui, a high-level
Chinese party official who met with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang a day
earlier.
Kim Jong-nam also denied reports that he is backed by China as he headed for
Macau from the Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old junior Kim exuded an easygoing, effortless confidence as he spoke
on the sensitive topic, but what he truly meant remained elusive and prompted
different interpretations.
Baek Seung-joo, a senior research fellow with the Korea Institute for Defense
Analysis, a state-run think tank in Seoul, regarded Kim Jong-nam's remarks as
"highly significant." The fact that he talked of succession, which has long been
taboo in the North, means the nomination process is almost complete and that he
has played an important role in his father's decision, Baek said.
"That he openly talked of the succession issue to the media is highly
significant," Baek said.
"It means that he can communicate with his father. Also he showed he can
communicate with Chinese leaders and that he can exert his influence to the next
leadership, regardless of whether or not he becomes the leader," he said.
In Confucian cultures, the eldest son usually succeeds his father, but Kim
Jong-nam has reportedly fallen out of his father's good graces because of his
lifestyle. In 2001, he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport, and
reportedly told investigators that he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Chon Hyun-joon with the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification said
the eldest son may have expressed his uneasy feelings toward his father, feeling
sidelined in the leadership talk.
"It is a common belief in the outside world that his father would decide on
succession, but nobody talks about it inside the country. If he were in a
favorable position, he would not have commented on it," Chon said.
Earlier this month, intelligence sources told Yonhap that the current leader,
apparently driven by his health condition following a reported stoke last summer,
has named his third son, Jong-un, as his successor.
Jong-un, now 25, was born to Kim's third wife, Ko Yong-hi, who died of breast
cancer at the age of 51 in 2004. The Swiss-educated youngest son remains under a
shroud of secrecy, and very little is known about his character.
Asked by a reporter what he thinks of Jong-un, Kim Jong-nam evaded a direct
answer and said, "Ask that directly to my brother."
The middle son, Jong-chol, who was also born to Ko, has been ruled out in the
succession early on, as observers said he was too effeminate and unfit for
leadership.
Paik Hak-soon with Sejong Institute, an independent think tank, said Kim Jong-nam
is cautious not to provoke his father by appearing ambitious for power.
"The nature of power is that it can't be shared," Paik said, "Any move to grab it
can lead to bloody strife. Kim Jong-nam knows it well and does not want to make
his father suspicious or uncomfortable about him. But who would hate power?"
The question remains debatable. Kim Jong-nam has reportedly said he opposes a
second father-to-son succession in the North even before the issue recently
surfaced.
Kim Jong-il took over after his father and nation's founder Kim Il-sung died in
1994 in the first hereditary succession in a communist regime in modern history.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Seoul analysts were discordant as they tried to interpret whether Kim Jong-nam
truly has "no interest" in power, as he claimed, or is simply being mindful of
his father.
Succession is a forbidden issue in the communist North, as an official decision
may immediately turn the absolute leader into a lame duck. Health issues
regarding Kim, who turns 67 next month, have stoked external speculation that a
power transfer may be imminent.
In the first such remarks coming from a family insider, Kim Jong-nam, the eldest
of the leader's three sons, told foreign reporters on Saturday, "I myself have no
interest" in the succession issue. "That is for my father to decide," he added.
Kim had arrived in Beijing on a plane also carrying Wang Jiarui, a high-level
Chinese party official who met with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang a day
earlier.
Kim Jong-nam also denied reports that he is backed by China as he headed for
Macau from the Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old junior Kim exuded an easygoing, effortless confidence as he spoke
on the sensitive topic, but what he truly meant remained elusive and prompted
different interpretations.
Baek Seung-joo, a senior research fellow with the Korea Institute for Defense
Analysis, a state-run think tank in Seoul, regarded Kim Jong-nam's remarks as
"highly significant." The fact that he talked of succession, which has long been
taboo in the North, means the nomination process is almost complete and that he
has played an important role in his father's decision, Baek said.
"That he openly talked of the succession issue to the media is highly
significant," Baek said.
"It means that he can communicate with his father. Also he showed he can
communicate with Chinese leaders and that he can exert his influence to the next
leadership, regardless of whether or not he becomes the leader," he said.
In Confucian cultures, the eldest son usually succeeds his father, but Kim
Jong-nam has reportedly fallen out of his father's good graces because of his
lifestyle. In 2001, he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport, and
reportedly told investigators that he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Chon Hyun-joon with the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification said
the eldest son may have expressed his uneasy feelings toward his father, feeling
sidelined in the leadership talk.
"It is a common belief in the outside world that his father would decide on
succession, but nobody talks about it inside the country. If he were in a
favorable position, he would not have commented on it," Chon said.
Earlier this month, intelligence sources told Yonhap that the current leader,
apparently driven by his health condition following a reported stoke last summer,
has named his third son, Jong-un, as his successor.
Jong-un, now 25, was born to Kim's third wife, Ko Yong-hi, who died of breast
cancer at the age of 51 in 2004. The Swiss-educated youngest son remains under a
shroud of secrecy, and very little is known about his character.
Asked by a reporter what he thinks of Jong-un, Kim Jong-nam evaded a direct
answer and said, "Ask that directly to my brother."
The middle son, Jong-chol, who was also born to Ko, has been ruled out in the
succession early on, as observers said he was too effeminate and unfit for
leadership.
Paik Hak-soon with Sejong Institute, an independent think tank, said Kim Jong-nam
is cautious not to provoke his father by appearing ambitious for power.
"The nature of power is that it can't be shared," Paik said, "Any move to grab it
can lead to bloody strife. Kim Jong-nam knows it well and does not want to make
his father suspicious or uncomfortable about him. But who would hate power?"
The question remains debatable. Kim Jong-nam has reportedly said he opposes a
second father-to-son succession in the North even before the issue recently
surfaced.
Kim Jong-il took over after his father and nation's founder Kim Il-sung died in
1994 in the first hereditary succession in a communist regime in modern history.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
