N. Koreans vote in parliamentary elections

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- North Koreans cast their ballots Sunday to elect new
lawmakers, the country's media said, in long-overdue elections that experts say
may possibly provide a clue to who will be the country's next leader.
Speculation has mounted over power succession in North Korea since leader Kim
Jong-il, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke last summer. The North's media have
recently emphasized the themes of "bloodline" and "inheritance," a possible
indication that the country may be preparing for another hereditary transfer of
power.
"It is entirely thanks to the wise leadership of Kim Jong-il that today the DPRK
government is adhering invariably to its character and mission as the socialist
political power in the unprecedented ordeals and difficulties," the Korean
Central News Agency said on the eve of the election. DPRK stands for the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
Sunday's voting, originally expected to be held by last September, was bypassed
amid rumors of Kim's poor health. When the North earlier this year rescheduled
the elections, many outsiders took it as a sign that the leader has made a good
recovery.
The Supreme People's Assembly is a rubber stamp parliament, but the election has
drawn keen outside attention because of the possibility that it may provide a
clue to the country's next leader.
There have been widespread rumors that the leader's third and youngest son,
Jong-un, 26, was running for a seat in the Assembly, a move that may indicate he
is in line to succeed his father.
Kim Jong-il took over in the first father-to-son power succession in a communist
country when his father and president, Kim Il-sung, died of heart failure in
1994.
There is no competition in Sunday's elections, with only one candidate nominated
to run in each district. The leader himself registered his candidacy in a
military district.
The outgoing North Korean parliament was formed in 2003 for a five-year term.
Virtually no dissenting vote is allowed in North Korean elections.
Testifying to a parliamentary committee on Feb. 25, South Korea's National
Intelligence Service chief, Won Sei-hoon, said, "A three-generation power
succession appears to be possible" in North Korea.
Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the independent Sejong Institute in Seoul,
said the third son's parliamentary seat, if confirmed, may indicate that the
succession process in North Korea is picking up speed.
"For the North Korean power elite, it's necessary to hold a lawmaker's post in
addition to other high positions," Cheong said.
South Korea's state-run Institute for National Security Strategy said in a report
in December that a new generation of young economic technocrats may likely emerge
through the elections to prepare for the post-Kim era.
Some experts cautioned against reading too much into the elections, arguing that
North Korea is currently concerned more about its sickly economy rather than a
power transfer.
"North Korea wants to bolster its national economic drive by letting its people
participate in the political process, the election," Paik Hak-soon with the
Sejong Institute said. "Chairman Kim Jong-il also, I'm sure, wants to show that
he is in firm control, despite the suspected stroke he suffered."
North Korea has set 2012, the 100th anniversary of the country's founder Kim
Il-sung's birth, as the target year for fully rebuilding its economy.
North Korea's economy is in deep trouble, forcing the country to rely on outside
aid to help feed its people. Its 2007 gross national income was just 2.8 percent
of South Korea's, according to Seoul's central bank.
hkim@yna.co.kr