Kim's failing health prompting N. Korean power transfer to son: Seoul minister

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appears to be
quickening the power transfer to his son because of his "worsening" health
condition, Seoul's unification minister said Thursday, a rare official comment on
the issue that has drawn much speculation.
Hyun In-taek, however, reaffirmed his ministry's position that there is no solid
evidence to confirm Kim's third and youngest son, Jong-un, is the heir.
"If Kim Jong-il had not suffered a stroke, the issue of power succession might
have not emerged as promptly as we are witnessing it today," Hyun said in a forum
with international members of the Presidential Committee on Nation Branding.
Kim, 67, reportedly suffered from a stroke last August. In footage of a
parliament meeting aired by state media in April, Kim was visibly thinner and
limped slightly on his left foot.
"Because of his worsening health condition, Chairman Kim may have felt the
necessity of accelerating the process of father-to-son succession of power," he
said, referring to the North Korean leader by his official title, chairman of the
National Defense Commission.
Hyun was speaking publicly for the first time about the North Korean succession
issue amid signs of discord within the Seoul government regarding its secretive
neighbor's future. The National Intelligence Service, South Korea's spy agency,
told lawmakers this week that it appears Jong-un is being groomed as the next
leader, citing a recent document it said the North Korean government distributed
to diplomats abroad to draw their loyalty vows to the 25-year-old.
The Unification Ministry, in charge of inter-Korean relations, remains cautious,
as does Washington.
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood called South Korean reports
"speculative."
"Although there are occasional media reports speculating that Chairman Kim has
already nominated his third son, Kim Jong-un, nothing has been confirmed on the
issue yet," he said.
Hyun supported the view that the uncertainty of the North Korean regime is behind
the North's increasingly coercive behavior toward the outside world. North Korea
drew international condemnation by conducting its second nuclear test last week
and now appears to be preparing to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic
missile.
Hyun said Kim's "anxiety over the uncertainty of his regime's future is closely
related to recent developments inside North Korea, as well as its provocative
actions toward the outside world."
The minister met with a visiting U.S. delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State
James Steinberg earlier in the day, during which they agreed to deal with all
North Korea issues "from a closely coordinated position," according to ministry
spokesman Chun Hae-sung.
Jong-un was born in 1984 to Kim's third wife, Ko Yong-hi, who died of breast
cancer at the age of 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 after being 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 favors
Jong-un, who resembles him the most in appearance and temperament.
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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