Spy agency confirms N.K. leader's third son as successor: lawmakers

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout, ADDS ministry spokesman's quote)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's intelligence agency has confirmed that
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has designated his third and youngest son,
Jong-un, as his successor, lawmakers here said Tuesday, in the first word from
the Seoul government about the future of the North's leadership.
The confirmation, reportedly given to all members of the National Assembly
information and intelligence committee on Monday, followed months of media debate
about who is next in line, many pointing to Jong-un, believed to be the elder
Kim's favorite among his three sons. Questions about a possible power transfer
have been growing since Kim, 67, 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 on Monday that immediately after the May 25
nuclear 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. Kim has credited the nuclear blast to Jong-un so as to build up the
son's name, the sources said, amid growing speculation linking North Korea's
growing belligerence to the possible power transfer process, which will require
internal unity.
Yonhap reported in mid-January 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 Seoul government has so far expressed reservations about those 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 South Korea's National Intelligence Service, said only that a
"three-generation succession appears to be possible" in the North but did not
elaborate on who would be Kim's choice.
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.
Officials at the National Intelligence Service could not be reached by phone.
Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said he could not confirm the
intelligence matter.
Jong-un, in his mid-20s, was born 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 to get to 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-nam, 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
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