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(2nd LD) Spy agency confirms N.K. leader's third son as successor: lawmakers
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's intelligence agency has told lawmakers that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appears to have chosen his third and youngest son, Jong-un, as his successor, informed legislators said Tuesday.
The information, reportedly given by the National Intelligence Service to members of the National Assembly information and intelligence committee on Monday, is the first to come out of the government about the future of the North's leadership following months of media debate. Speculation has been growing since Kim, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke last summer.
"I was told over the telephone yesterday that Jong-un has been tapped as successor," Song Young-gil of the main opposition Democratic Party and a member of the intelligence committee told Yonhap News Agency over the telephone.
Park Jie-won, also of the Democratic Party, said in a radio interview that he was informed by a senior official of the National Intelligence Service that the North Korean elite now "make loyalty pledges to Kim Jong-un." The lawmakers said they received a phone call from the official, who could not be identified due to protocol, and that other committee members were also informed in the same way.
Officials at the intelligence agency could not be reached by phone, while Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said he could not confirm the intelligence report.
The confirmation from Seoul's intelligence agency is expected to send ripples through neighboring countries striving to interpret and deal with an increasingly coercive North Korea. Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test on May 25 and subsequently fired a series of short-range missiles from its east coast. Informed sources say preparations are underway to launch longer-range missiles.
Some watchers link the bellicose campaign to the possible power transfer process, which will require internal unity.
Sources told Yonhap News Agency on Monday that immediately after the May 25 nuclear test, Kim communicated his designation of Jong-un to 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. Kim credited the nuclear blast to Jong-un so as to enhance his name, the sources added, requesting anonymity.
Cheong Seong-chang, a leading expert on North Korean succession, said talk of a power transfer began after Kim's illness and has picked up speed due to discussions between Seoul and Washington over "Operational Plan 5029," which aims to prepare for the possible collapse of North Korea.
"Kim's illness sparked anxiety among the North Korean elite who came to worry about the future of the country," Cheong with the non-governmental Sejong Institute said. "The succession talk was accelerated by the external factor, namely OPLAN 5029, which includes a scenario of advancing to North Korea. From the North Korean military's perspective, that scenario is a profound provocation."
Yonhap reported in mid-January that the senior Kim designated Jong-un, 25, believed to be the favorite among his three sons, as heir and sent such a directive to the Workers' Party leadership on Jan, 8, Jong-un's birthday.
The Seoul government has so far expressed reservations about the reports, remaining cautious about meddling in its communist neighbor's internal affairs.
In a meeting with the parliament intelligence committee in February, Won Sei-hoon, chief of Seoul's National Intelligence Service, said only that a "three-generation succession appears to be possible" in the North and did not elaborate on who would be Kim's choice.
Jong-un was born in 1984 to Kim's third wife, Ko Yong-hi, who died of breast cancer at age 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. Since 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's first son, Jong-nam, 37, who was born to Kim's illegitimate wife Song Hae-rim, reportedly fell from his father's favor due to his western tastes. He was caught using a fake Dominican passport while trying to enter Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland in 2001.
Kim Jong-il's former sushi chef, Kenji Fujimoto, said in a 2003 memoir that the elder Kim considers his second son, Jong-chol, to be "girlish" and most favors Jong-un, who is reportedly the spitting image of his father.
The current North Korean leader 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.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
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