Free Republic

Kim Jong-il looks set to be the last North Korean leader to enjoy a semi-divine status and rule the nation single-handedly. No matter how well he purges internal opposition, his youngest son will have to rely on a politburo of party and army officials if he takes power, amplifying the risks of infighting in the nuclear-armed state. South Korean spies this week said the communist nation’s parliament and army had pledged allegiance to Kim Jong-woon, the dictator’s Swiss-educated youngest son, who is said to be in his mid-20s. It is unlikely he can even become a “Dear Leader” like his...

Pyongyang Kids Learn the New Song By Shin Joo Hyun [2009-05-21 16:15 ] In Pyongyang elementary schools, teachers have been teaching their students “The Song of General Kim Jong Woon.” A Japanese source released a rumor to Daily NK on Thursday, “On the 6th, in a few elementary schools in Pyongyang, students learned ‘The Song of General Kim Jong Woon.’ The lyrics contain such mainstays of idolization as ‘gallant steps’ and ‘the General of Mt. Baekdu.’ The source reported, “Students said that they had to memorize the song, otherwise teachers wouldn’t let them go home. In Pyongyang schools, the authorities...

Cadres Astonished by Jong Woon Rumors By Jung Kwon Ho [2009-03-05 17:50 ] Shenyang, China -- “The eldest son is succeeding me,” or so Kim Jong Il is said to have remarked. A source from Jagang Province reported on Thursday in an interview with Daily NK, “When the General (Kim Jong Il) visited Kangkye in December last year, he was accompanied by his eldest son. He introduced his son to the provincial cadres of the Party, saying that ‘He is my eldest son, who will succeed me.’” However, the source added, “There was not any detailed introduction of the eldest...

NKorean leader may be succeeded by his son: SKorea Wed Feb 25, 8:27 am ET SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea's intelligence chief Wednesday raised the possibility of another father-to-son succession for the North Korean leadership, a lawmaker said. Won Sei-Hoon, head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), told a closed parliamentary hearing that a "three-generation succession appears to be possible" in the communist state, an opposition MP told Yonhap news agency. The legislator also quoted the intelligence chief as saying 67-year-old leader Kim Jong-Il was in charge but had "not fully recovered" following a reported illness. The NIS declined to...

Election holds clues to Kim's next move By Christian Oliver Published: February 21 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 21 2009 02:00 North Korean elections are never nail-biters. On the face of it, the March 8 contest will rubber-stamp the reappointment of the Supreme People's Assembly, the reclusive state's highest body, with every member including Kim Jong-il, the country's ruler, likely to garner 100 per cent support. But on this occasion the appointment of the assembly will offer rare clues about where Kim's dictatorship is headed even as military tensions simmer on the Korean peninsula and rumours swirl about the...

They only mananged to get his picture which was taken at 11 years of age.

/begin my translation Shock from Third Son's Motorbike Accident Led to Kim Jong-il's Collapse Japanese Monthly 'Will' reported in its latest issue that N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il collapsed from the shock that his third son Kim Jong-woon was injured in a motor cycle accident in early morning of Aug. 16, with no hope of recovery. According to the monthly, Swiss and French doctors were urgently called into Pyongyang to treat Jong-woon, but they also ended up attending to Kim Jong-il when he collpased after seeing the grisly shape his son was in. Jong-woon suffered stroke and have been kept...

Death of Kim's consort: Dynastic implications By David Scofield North Korea is synonymous with death. The widely circulated news of Kim Jong-il's consort's death is important not in the circumstances of her demise, but in the questions of dynastic succession it has brought to the fore - who will inherit the mantle of despot in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea? Kim Jong-il is 62. Kim's appetite for exotic food and fine alcohol is surpassed only by his appetite for female flesh, an indulgence that led him to Koh Young-hee, formerly a dancer in one of Kim's many "pleasure teams",...