Posted on 11/16/2005 2:21:41 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Who's next in North Korea?
By Choe Sang-Hun International Herald Tribune
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2005
SEOUL Kim Jong Il, the "Dear Leader" of North Korea, is pushing an age - 63 - when he is widely expected to designate a successor who will carry the mantle of power he inherited from his own father in the Communist world's first and only dynasty.
But he has problems.
His eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, 34, has not been home for years, wandering in self-imposed exile overseas and reportedly on the run from hit men hired by supporters of his stepbrothers.
His second son, Kim Jong Chol, is only 24 and was reportedly dismissed once by his father as too "girlish" to be a leader.
His youngest son, Kim Jong Un, 22, remains a mystery; in fact no one in the outside world is known to have ever seen his photograph.
Outside Kim's family, no one has emerged as an influential player in a regime that centers all power on a single leader.
Besides, most of Kim's top aides are in their 70s; some have died in recent years and others are being treated for disease, according to South Korean officials.
So who is eventually going to replace Kim as head of the world's most isolated country? It is a question charged with geopolitical implications, as well as conspiracy theories reminiscent of ancient Korean royal courts where uncles and stepbrothers, ready to spill blood, often plotted against each other.
Even experts who have spent a lifetime watching North Korea from the outside find it hard to keep track of who is in favor and who is not. They pore over every nuance for clues into the inner workings of a regime that has refined old Soviet-style secrecy to near-perfection.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Ping!
Which of his sons is the most bizarre? He will get the nod.
:0)
Yeah, he's the one. Kim Jong Chol can design some spiffy new uniforms for the North Korean army :-).
And all of lead poisoning.
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Come to think of it, Groucho seemed to run Fredonia on North Korean ... um ... logic.
I think that kid got busted at Tokyo Disneyland LOL!
AM I RIGHT Tiger???
BTW if Chia Pet decided retired he could always go Hollywood record more music aka Team America I am so ronaey
That one guys remind me of MR Sulu in that one Star Trek episode you know how Mr Sulu turn out LOL!
COme think of it that guy remind me of MR Sulu from that Star Trek episode LOL!
NO I give my vote to the son that got busted by Tokyo cops at Disneyland Tokyo that funny LOL!
Post 9 IS a photo of Sulu.
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