N. Korea speeds up idolization of leader-in-waiting

By Kim Kwang-tae SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) -- The newspaper for North Korea's youth organization published a lengthy article honoring leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-un in an apparent move to consolidate support from young people in the country's power succession process. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has taken steps to hand over power to his youngest son, Jong-un, since he suffered a stroke in 2008. The newspaper, Chongnyonjonwi, referred to Kim Jong-un as General Kim in its Sunday edition in an article focused on praising him and making a case for the power succession. The article was broadcast across the country by the North's Central TV Broadcasting Station on that day. The use of the title has recently appeared in the country where previously Kim Jong-un was referred to as Young General and Comrade General. The North Korean leader named Jong-un vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the North's ruling Workers' Party and a four-star general last year in the clearest sign yet of intentions to make his son the next leader. The succession, if made, would mark communism's second hereditary power transfer. The elder Kim inherited power from his father, the country's founder Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994. The youth organization is affiliated with the Workers' Party and reportedly boasts 5 million members aged 14-30 in the country of 24 million. Paik Hak-soon, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, an independent think tank near Seoul, said the newspaper's article appeared to be aimed at winning allegiance from young people and consolidating their support in the country's power transfer process.