Yonhap News reported again Kim Jong-um is likely to be the North's next leader. Kosuke
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2009/04/26/17/0301000000AEN20090426000900315F.HTML
N. Korean leader's son appointed to post in top military body: source
SEOUL, April 26 (Yonhap) -- The third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has been assigned to a post in the communist nation's top military organization headed by Kim, apparently a sign of being groomed as the North's next leader, multiple sources privy to North Korean affairs said Sunday.
"Kim Jong-un had been appointed to a low-level post, called 'instructor' at the National Defense Commission days before the first session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly meeting was held" on April 9, the source said. Another source also said that Jong-un works at the commission, but that his exact post remains unconfirmed.
Sources noted that Jong-un's course of "succession lessons" is different from that of his father, who started his political career in the Workers' Party. They said the move shows the authority of the National Defense Commission headed by Kim under his military-first policy.
Kim Jong-il was tapped as successor at 32 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.
Early this year, the North's leader delivered a directive on his nomination of Jong-un as his successor in the Workers' Party leadership, according to the sources.
The 25-year-old is the youngest of Kim's three sons. Jong-un was educated at the International School of Berne and is known to be a fan of NBA basketball. After returning to Pyongyang in his late teens, he has lived a reclusive life, and very little is known about his character.
The North's leader, who turned 68 in February, suffered a stroke last year, according to South Korean intelligence officials. He has recovered from the illness well enough to meet foreign guests and appear in public events. (END)
