NK preparing for a missile launch and Kim Jong-il's successor

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

Spy Agency Confirms NK Leader's 3rd Son as Successor

South Korea's National Intelligence Service has confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il designated his third and youngest son, Jong-un, as his successor shortly after the country's second nuclear test, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday, quoting lawmakers.

The confirmation, given to members of the National Assembly information and intelligence committee Monday, is the first word from the Seoul government regarding North Korea's next leader following months of media speculation. Predictions that the elder Kim, 67, would soon designate his heir have circulated since he reportedly suffered a stroke last summer.

"I was notified by the government yesterday that there are such ongoings (of succession), and that they (North Koreans) make loyalty pledges to Kim Jong-un," Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party, a member of the intelligence committee and close aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, said in a radio interview.

Sources told Yonhap News Agency Monday that immediately after the May 25 test, Kim notified the country's key institutions ― the Korean People's Army, the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and the Cabinet ― as well as its diplomatic missions abroad that he has designated Kim Jong-un as his successor.

The reported notification followed intelligence acquired by Yonhap four months earlier that the senior Kim chose Jong-un as his heir and sent a directive to the Workers' Party leadership on January 8, Jong-un's birthday.

The Dong-A Ilbo, a leading South Korean daily, ran a similar report on the official notification Tuesday.

In a meeting with the parliament intelligence committee in February, the National Intelligence Service said another hereditary power transfer "appears feasible" but did not comment on reports of Kim Jong-un's designation.

Lawmakers said Tuesday the intelligence agency told them those media reports "appeared to be true" and that it cited a diplomatic message sent to North Korean missions abroad to notify Jong-un as the next leader.

Jong-un, in his mid-20s, was born to Kim's third wife, Ko Yong-hi, who died of breast cancer at 51 in 2004. Jong-un is believed to have been educated at the International School of Berne and is said to be a fan of NBA basketball. After his return to Pyongyang in his late teens, the North has kept him under a shroud of secrecy and very little is known about his character.

Kim Jong-il was 32 when he was tapped as successor by his father and the nation's founder, Kim Il-sung, in a general meeting of the Workers' Party in 1974. He took over after his father's death in 1994.

Jong-un's succession, if actualized, will mark the second father-to-son power transfer in the North, unprecedented in the history of communist nations.

'N. Korea’s Next Leader Is Eager English Learner'

Kim Jong-un, the third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is reportedly being groomed to replace his father as leader of the communist state in the next couple of years, is eager to learn English and has a strong drive to win, according to a North Korea watcher here Tuesday.

The shifting power in the Stalinist country sends a clear signal that South Korea and other participating countries in the six-party talks are running out of time to end the North's nuclear program, warned Cheong Seong-chang, director of the inter-Korean relations program at the Sejong Institute in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

``Jong-un, 26, might have stayed in Switzerland for a much shorter period of time than his brother Jong-chol who studied at the International School of Berne in the country from 1993 to 1998,'' Cheong told The Korea Times.

The North Korea expert said that it was not clear if the younger Kim had stayed or studied in Switzerland before, but if he had done, it would have been sometime between 1996 and 1998.

Born on Jan. 8, 1983, Jong-un is the son of Ko Young-hee, the third wife of Kim Jong-il who died of breast cancer in 2004 in France.

According to Cheong, who last December interviewed Kenji Fujimoto, the chef who closely watched the North Korean leader and his family from 1988 to 2001, Jong-un resembled his father most among Kim's three sons when it came to personality, leadership style and body shape. Probably because of this, he said, Jong-un was Kim's favorite son.

During his childhood years, Jong-un liked playing basketball with his brother Jung-chol.

After games, Jong-chol, who was described as a mild-tempered man with no political ambitions by Fujimoto, gave encouraging comments to his teammates for their efforts, while Jong-un rebuked them when things went wrong and warned them not repeat the same mistakes again.

``According to Fujimoto, the third son was eager to improve his English skills,'' said Cheong.

He made the remarks after the National Intelligence Service said the younger Kim appears to have been confirmed as the North's next leader.

A source at the spy agency was quoted as saying that the North Korean leadership sent a memo to its embassies abroad shortly after the country's second nuclear test last week notifying that the younger Kim would be the successor.

Other sources said North Korea Workers Party members, military personnel and diplomats have taken an oath of allegiance to the younger Kim.

Cheong interpreted that the North sent the memo to its diplomats as part of the official succession process, but that this didn't mean it was complete.

The North reportedly informed high-ranking officials and key post holders of the younger Kim's forthcoming rise to power in the post-Kim Jong-il era earlier this year.

``These procedures are needed to draw bottom-up support from grass-root people for Jung-un to lead the Stalinist country as the next leader. This last stage, especially, matters to justify the new leadership,'' the expert explained.

Cheong forecast that the younger Kim's succession will mean a lot for the prospects of the North Korean nuclear program.

``Kim Jong-il has a tight grip on the military and power elite in the party and he believes that the North could ― though with difficult ― give up its nuclear program when all conditions are met. But this is not the case with the younger Kim,'' he said.

``The core lesson policymakers should learn is that we are running out of time to end the nuclear program, and it will be easier for negotiators to deal with Kim Jong-il than his son whose power base is weaker than his father,'' he added.

N. Korea Preparing to Launch Medium-Range Missile

North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire a medium-range missile on its east coast, a politician said Tuesday.

The lawmaker, who declined to be identified, said he was told by high-level defense officials that preparations were being made at a missile base in Anbyeon, Gangwon Province.

The province is shared by the Koreas, which remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce. North Korea fired a series of short-range missiles on its east coast after conducting its second nuclear test May 25.

The lawmaker visited the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on Tuesday morning along with other members of a National Assembly committee for a meeting with Minister of National Defense Lee Sang-hee.

North Korea is believed to have 800 missiles, including some capable of reaching a U.S. military base on Guam.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Comments

[xshinebrighterx.livejournal.com]

i hope the son isn't as crazy as him.

[stopthedisco.livejournal.com]

Jong-un resembled his father most among Kim's three sons when it came to personality, leadership style and body shape.

I hope they aren't THAT similar. :/

[theheartless69.livejournal.com]

CLONES.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__liz/]

BODY SHAPE. What are the chances that he's walking around as KJI's body double right now?

[ari-meh.livejournal.com]

))):

[sojufever.livejournal.com]

ia :(

[je-sea-kah.livejournal.com]

I was about to make a yesung joke, but now is not the time. >.>


stupid n.korea. :(

[smilingsounds.livejournal.com]

I WAS TOO!

[kanaala.livejournal.com]

lol, it's what came to my mind at first! guess i should also refrain from doing so x___X

[carrotsandroses.livejournal.com]

North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire a medium-range missile on its east coast, a politician said Tuesday....


...North Korea is believed to have 800 missiles, including some capable of reaching a U.S. military base on Guam.

D:

[dapdaphae.livejournal.com]

tbh, all of this scares me :\

[xshinebrighterx.livejournal.com]

tbh i'm not that scared anymore.

[smilingsounds.livejournal.com]

it scares me too bb, but i'm like.. :\

[beauty0fparting.livejournal.com]

is it just me or the picture of the kid makes him look like he has down syndrome????

i dont think nk is stupid enough to actually start off a war... they'd get pulverized by other countries' missiles...

[crypticbluerose.livejournal.com]

*this*

[blacksoul12012.livejournal.com]

This is all so fucked up!
I hope there is a possibilty for a peaceful solution.

[eveandadam.livejournal.com]

X( what's their point, exactly?

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

67 seems so young to die from a western point of view. I wonder what the normal life expectancy in south korea and north korea is.

How is it that his son was allowed to be out of n.korea? idgi. Weren't they worried he would get some sense in him and think the north was crazy? I wonder if they had spys on him always.

Jong-un resembled his father most among Kim's three sons when it came to personality, leadership style and body shape.

Why was I slightly hoping he would be hot?

[djclazzi.livejournal.com]

Because of this (http://community.livejournal.com/omonatheydidnt/229331.html).

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

Huh. I find the "eager english" bit pretty odd as the North really doesn't like english and doesn't have any lone words to keep the language "pure."

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

It will probably be helpful for him communicating to other countries though.

obligatory

[distortedinpink.livejournal.com]

Re: obligatory

[shellforbrains.livejournal.com]

so true :(

[cynicalsnark.livejournal.com]

I still don't understand what they're trying to DO. :\ From an optimistic point of view, some analysts predict that now that NK's named Kim Jong Il's successor, the aggression in the region should ebb slightly and that the MIGHT (big might), return to the 6 party talks. I hope this is true.

[polysweet.livejournal.com]

I try not to worry about this kind of thing too much. I really think NK realizes the what the consequences would be.

I'm not sure if they'd be able to do much against a missile, but the US shipped over a few air force units to Japan to keep an eye on things.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123151680

[deazaskia.livejournal.com]

O______O




and what an ugly picture.

[tyreling.livejournal.com]

[ficcy.livejournal.com]

Well if he's just like Jong-Il then it'll take a while before sense will penetrate NK. :\

[schizofragile.livejournal.com]

holy shit that picture is photoshopped and scary. also, fugly, sry2say dear leader.