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China-Japan-Koreas
North Korean leader assigns youngest son to defense commission
2009-04-27
I'll note it's not a very far drop from that particular apple tree.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] The third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been assigned to the country's all-powerful National Defense Commission, a possible sign that he is being groomed as his father's successor, a news report said Sunday. Kim, who has ruled the North with absolute authority since his father's death in 1994, has three known sons by two women but has not publicly anointed any of them as his successor. Speculation on who is to succeed the 67-year-old leader has grown since Kim reportedly suffered a stroke in August.

On Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported Kim's youngest son, 26-year-old Kim Jong Un, took up a low-level post at the defense commission, several days before the country's rubber-stamp Parliament reappointed the senior Kim as the commission's chairman on April 9.

Under the North's Constitution, the defense commission is the top government body and Kim Jong Il has ruled the country in his capacity as its chairman. He also is the top official in the powerful Workers' Party and supreme army commander.

At this month's closely watched parliamentary session, Kim Jong Il looked thinner and grayer and was limping slightly.

It was Kim's first major public appearance since his reported stroke but proved that he remains in charge of the communist North.

Yonhap, citing unidentified sources it says are privy to North Korean affairs, reported the third son is expected to assume the defense commission's higher-level posts step by step in preparation to succeed his father.

The National Intelligence Service - South Korea's main spy agency - said it was aware of the Yonhap report but could not confirm it.

Little is known about Kim Jong Un except that he studied at the International School of Bern in Switzerland. Kim Jong Il's former sushi chef says in a 2003 memoir that the son looks and acts just like his father and is the leader's favorite.
Posted by:Fred

#4  ION CHINA WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC TO DEAL WITH US MILITARY FORCES BASED ON GUAM, CHINA ENGAGES IN "FRENZIED" [escalatory] DEDICATED DEVELOPMENT OF MEDIUM-RANGED BALLISTIC MISSLES. SUCH MISSLES WILL ALSO PROTRECT CHINA FROM US MILITARY FORCES IN JAPAN AND AGZ THE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER; + CHINA MUST PREEMPTIVELY USE ITS LONG-RANGE MISSLES TO QUICKLY DESTROY JAPAN [ + South Korea], THE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER(S) AND ENEMY STRATEGIC AIR FORCES, iff to survive or win agz the US in major war; + CHINA KEEPS APPROXIMATELY 300 NUCLEAR WARHEADS PERMANENTLY AIMED/TARGETED AGZ JAPAN; + CHINA TO BUILD 28,000-TON HELICOPTER CARRIER.

Also from WMF > CHINA'S STRATEGIC MILITARY STRIKE CAPABILITIES AGZ THE USA, RUSSIA, AND JAPAN WILL IMPROVE ALSO AS IT CONTINUES MAKING IMPROVEMENTS IN TEHCNOLOGY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-04-27 21:32  

#3  In my dreams someone would get a chef on the Kim sushi chef team to "mishandle" the Pufferfish rolls and poison the Kims. Pufferfish is deadlier than cyanide when handled without a license. ;-)
Posted by: GirlThursday   2009-04-27 20:27  

#2  It was Kim's first major public appearance since his reported stroke but proved that he remains in charge of the communist North.

Doubtful, IMNSHO.
Posted by: Pappy   2009-04-27 11:36  

#1  Is that pronounced "Kim Young'Un"?
Posted by: Spot   2009-04-27 08:06  

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