SEOUL (Reuters) -- Secretive North Korea's ailing leader Kim Jong-il has named his youngest son as a military general, state media said early on Tuesday, marking the first stage of a dynastic succession.
Kim Jong-il, 68, is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 and has been gibbering ever since, but despite his declining health is not expected to go into retirement just yet, experts say. They say his son Kim Jong-un is too young and inexperienced to fully take the reins.
Kim also gave the rank of general to his sister, Kyong-hui, who had been considered a key backer of the young son, KCNA news agency reported.
The young Kim's appointment comes ahead of the opening of a rare meeting of the ruling Workers' Party on Tuesday, in a move analysts had expected would signal the start of the succession process in the North.
In the event Kim Jong-il dies suddenly,
his son by then identified as figurehead leader, would be surrounded by close family confidants who have been appointed to senior positions in the Workers' Party and military in recent months. |