'Bloodline inheritance' highlighted in N. Korean editorial for leader's birthday

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- Unlike its usual focus on leader Kim Jong-il, this
year's ruling party editorial honoring his birthday repeatedly emphasized the
"inheritance of bloodline," Seoul officials said Tuesday amid growing speculation
of succession.
"In the midst of glorious inheritance of bloodline of Mount Paektu is the bright
future of the Juche (self-reliance) revolution," Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpeice of
the ruling Workers' Party, said in its editorial Monday.
Mount Paektu, held sacred by the two Koreas, is officially promoted by North
Korea as Kim's birthplace, though Soviet records show he was born in a Soviet
village in 1942.
"As the revolutionary tradition of Mount Paektu is firmly being inherited, our
revolution vigorously maintains life even though generations and centuries change
and the condition and climate of our struggle are different," Rodong Sinmun
declared.
Seoul officials said such official references to "bloodline" on the leader's
birthday are unprecedented. Last year, the party editorial heaped praise on Kim
Jong-il and emphasized national unity to build a strong nation.
"Unlike last year, the editorial repeatedly used such expressions as the
'inheritance of bloodline of Mount Paektu,' 'the 'future of the revolution' and
'inheritance of the tradition,'" Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for the Unification
Ministry, told reporters.
He did not comment on the implications of the language.
Another official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, called such
suggestive remarks "unusual."
Kim turned 67 on Monday amid lingering skepticism about his health and growing
rumors about his choice of a successor. North Korean media reports suggest he has
significantly recovered from a suspected stroke in August and is now back in full
charge, but his age and a record of diabetes and heart disease sustain concerns
about his health.
Intelligence sources told Yonhap last month that Kim, apparently driven by his
health condition, named his third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor
on Jan. 8.
The 25-year-old Jong-un, born to Kim's third wife Ko Yong-hi and educated in
Switzerland, has been said to be his father's favorite, bearing a close
resemblance in appearance and temperament to the aging leader.
Parliamentary elections on March 8 may lay the groundwork for the post-Kim era,
Seoul analysts say.
The current leader took over when his father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung
died in 1994, the first hereditary power succession in a communist regime.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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