Posted on 02/15/2003 11:40:26 PM PST by HAL9000
TOKYO (AP) - North Korea has launched a campaign to promote the 21-year-old son of leader Kim Jong Il as his successor, Kyodo News reported Saturday.Kim Jong Il turns 61 on Sunday and there is no suggestion that he will step down soon or is in poor health.
The Japanese news agency said a classified North Korean military document reverentially referred to Kim's current wife Ko Yong Hee as "mother" and "loyal subject."
The North started a similar campaign in the mid-1970s to idolize Kim Jong Il's mother when he was earmarked to succeed his father, Kim Il Sung, the founder of the reclusive communist state.
Little is known about Kim Jong Il and Ko Yong Hee's son, Kim Jong Chul. A South Korean newspaper reported he had studied in France.
Kim Jong Il is believed to have three children: Kim Jong Chul; Kim Sul Song, a daughter born in 1974; and Kim Jong Nam, a son born in 1971. The children all have different mothers.
The topic of succession comes at a delicate for Pyongyang as it is entrenched in a standoff with Washington over its suspected development of nuclear weapons and its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Kim Jong Il, called "Dear Leader" in the North, rules with a personality cult. His birthday on Sunday is celebrated as the "Greatest Holiday" and is expected to be marked by sports events, art performances, seminars and film festivals.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
N. Korea creates cult around mother of Kim Jong Il's son
SEOUL, Feb. 15, Kyodo -
Work has begun in North Korea to propagate a cult around North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's current wife Ko Yong Hee, according to an internal military document obtained by Kyodo News from reliable sources Saturday.
The propaganda is seen to indicate the start of preparations to groom Kim Jong Chol, Kim Jong Il's 21-year-old second son born from Ko, as the leader's successor.
The propaganda surrounding Ko began in the summer of last year, according to the documents.
Kim Jong Il inherited leadership of the country after the death of his father, the founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung in 1994.
The existence of Ko, who is said to be a Japan-born Korean around 50 years old, has until now been hidden from view. The document in question marks the first confirmed praise of her in internal documents.
Kim Jong Il's eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, 31, had previously been touted as the leader's heir-apparent. However, he now appears to be out of the leadership race since being deported from Japan in May 2001 for using a false passport and the death of his mother Sung Hae Rim. He has yet to return to North Korea.
In a ''lecture document'' titled ''We shall defend to the death the high command of the revolution led by great comrade Kim Jong Il'' published by the (North) Korean People's Army in August 2002 as a restricted document, Ko is lauded in terms as a ''mother.''
As an apparent guide to furthering the stature of Ko in the military, the document says, ''The esteemed mother (Ko) is the most loyal among the endlessly loyal to the revered supreme commander comrade (Kim Jong Il).''
Moreover, Ko is commended on par with Kim Jong Il's mother Kim Jong Sook, considered one of the country's ''three generals'' along with the leader and his father.
The document goes on to cite numerous instances of Ko accompanying her husband on inspections of the military and his on-site guidance tours and gives examples of how well she understands and looks after the safety and health of the leader.
WHAT? I missed this. So he's holed up in Beijing?
I thought it was stupid that the Americans didn't attack the Japanese cops if necessary to get this guy and give him the bamboo treatment for all this info he was carrying (as he would no doubt have done to me if I were captured).
Something odd is going on if he's refused to return. Maybe he couldn't take things on the inside? Felt that the walls would come tumbling down so he didn't want to be manning them at the time?
I dunno...but my insticts tell me there are chinks in the armor here...if Kim's family won't follow him, I really have my doubts about the rest of his government (except of course that they have some economic interests in maintaining the regime...but do the North Korean nomenklatura really live so much better now than they would as low level staff of a South Korean or American corporate outfit?
If there are any true believer, I suppose they will fight to the death anyway.
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