N. Korea likely to complete power succession next year: official

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea expects North Korea will complete its
father-to-son power succession as early as next year if its leader Kim Jong-il
remains healthy enough to oversee it, an intelligence official said Monday.
Kim, 67, suffered a stroke last year but has recovered enough to reassert his
power over his country, which continues to develop its nuclear and missile
programs, according to the U.S. and South Korea.
The ailment prompted Kim -- who also inherited power from his father and North
Korean founder Kim Il-sung -- to hasten a power succession to his third son,
Jong-un, a process which has slowed since the recovery but not been terminated by
any means, the official said.
"The question is, can he retain his vigor until it is completed," the official
said, declining to be identified citing the political sensitivity of the matter.
Strokes are characterized by a relatively high rate of relapse. South Korean
media say photos released by Pyongyang show Kim's physical movement has been
slightly compromised.
"The highest echelon is already with Kim on the succession. At this rate, he
should be able to persuade the entire political leadership to accept Jong-un as
his successor within next year," the official said.
Sources in South Korea have said a series of elaborate propaganda campaigns have
been under way this year to portray Kim Jong-un as a young commander capable of
leading the communist country.
In a recent photo released by official North Korean television, Kim Jong-il and
his entourage watch a performance during which the title of a song praising
Jong-un is displayed above the stage.
If North Korea succeeds in the power transfer, it will be the world's only
communist dynasty to have engineered a back-to-back hereditary succession.
The North conducted its second nuclear test in May this year, inviting U.N.
sanctions tougher than those imposed after the first one in 2006.
But the country has in recent months taken conciliatory gestures toward the
outside world, signaling a willingness to return to multinational talks aimed at
denuclearizing it through economic and diplomatic benefits.
Analysts have said Kim Jong-il may have used this year's nuclear and missile
testing to unite the regime and create a political setting conducive to his power
succession.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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