Respected General now Great Successor
Source: Agencies |
December 21, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WITH the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong Un went from being North Korea's "Respected General" to "Great Successor" - a heady and uncertain promotion for a young man virtually unknown just a year ago.
Kim Jong Il's death thrusts his 20-something son in the spotlight as the future head of a nation grappling with difficult nuclear negotiations and chronic food shortages.
The death speeds up a succession process that began in earnest a little more than a year ago.
Kim Jong Un's emergence in September 2010 as the anointed successor settled the question of which of Kim Jong Il's three known sons would be the next leader.
After appointing him vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party, Kim Jong Il unveiled his son to the world just weeks later at a massive military parade to celebrate a key party anniversary.
With the world's media in attendance and transmitting live video, the young son appeared on the balcony of the Grand People's Study Hall in a blue suit, waving as tanks loaded with long-range missiles barreled by.
Similarity
Stocky and youthful, he bears more than a passing resemblance to his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, as a young man - a similarity that plays into the emphasis on lineage and legacy as just cause to make him leader.
He began appearing with his father at state events and reportedly ran the country when Kim traveled to Russia and China.
North Koreans have been told he graduated from Kim Il Sung Military University, speaks several foreign languages, and is a whiz at computing and technology.
"There is a rumor that he is married, but officially we don't know," said Yoon Deok-ryong, who specializes in North Korean economic reform at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul.
After he made his public debut, he was referred to as the "Young General." In recent months, signs began appearing with the title "Respected General."
On Monday, the Korean Central News Agency called him the "Great Successor."
He is expected to lean on members of his father's inner circle, including his aunt Kim Kyong Hui; her husband Jang Song Thaek and other Kim Jong Il confidants, experts said.
Kim Jong Il's death thrusts his 20-something son in the spotlight as the future head of a nation grappling with difficult nuclear negotiations and chronic food shortages.
The death speeds up a succession process that began in earnest a little more than a year ago.
Kim Jong Un's emergence in September 2010 as the anointed successor settled the question of which of Kim Jong Il's three known sons would be the next leader.
After appointing him vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party, Kim Jong Il unveiled his son to the world just weeks later at a massive military parade to celebrate a key party anniversary.
With the world's media in attendance and transmitting live video, the young son appeared on the balcony of the Grand People's Study Hall in a blue suit, waving as tanks loaded with long-range missiles barreled by.
Similarity
Stocky and youthful, he bears more than a passing resemblance to his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, as a young man - a similarity that plays into the emphasis on lineage and legacy as just cause to make him leader.
He began appearing with his father at state events and reportedly ran the country when Kim traveled to Russia and China.
North Koreans have been told he graduated from Kim Il Sung Military University, speaks several foreign languages, and is a whiz at computing and technology.
"There is a rumor that he is married, but officially we don't know," said Yoon Deok-ryong, who specializes in North Korean economic reform at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul.
After he made his public debut, he was referred to as the "Young General." In recent months, signs began appearing with the title "Respected General."
On Monday, the Korean Central News Agency called him the "Great Successor."
He is expected to lean on members of his father's inner circle, including his aunt Kim Kyong Hui; her husband Jang Song Thaek and other Kim Jong Il confidants, experts said.
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