SEOUL — Pyongyang has been distributing badges carrying the portrait of Kim Jung-Chol, 24, the third son of North Korea's "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il, according to non-governmental intelligence sources and media reports.
Jung-Chul is Kim's son by his second wife, Koh Young-Hee, who died in summer of 2004 in what has been called an automobile accident.
Kim Jung-Chol's portrait was produced by the National Mansudae Creation Center and began to be distributed during the celebrations of his father's birthday on Feb. 16, according to the Weekly Chosun, published by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
Government intelligence sources, however, denied there was any concrete evidence that Kim Jung-Chol is being officially groomed as the country's successor.
“Even if the successor is being groomed in North Korea, it may not be announced until 2012, which will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung,” said a government official.
The badges were distributed only to senior officials of the party and to assistant cabinet ministers and above as well as to equivalent levels of officers of the Peoples Army and government agencies.
The sources said the development could be proof that the Stalinist state is preparing to anoint Kim’s third son as his successor.
Last month the Japanese weekly magazine “Modern Times” reported it had obtained a North Korean internal document, “Instruction of Workers Party Central Committee” that carried two guidelines from the central committee to the party’s local chapters.
One was to strengthen ideological training so that all party members would loyally follow Kim Jung-Chol with all their heart. The second was that all party documents and meeting minutes should address Kim Jung-Chol as “Respectful Vice Chairman.”
In January, a Chosun Ilbo quoted a defector as saying portraits of Kim Jung-Chol were seen hanging on walls of the Central Party Committee office in Pyongyang.
Analysts also noted the fact that Kim Jung-Chol has been in charge of the organization of the party’s Central Committee, where his father also started to take control of the party, the cabinet and the army when he was being groomed by the late Kim Il-Sung.
Analysts say that Kim Jong-Il's first son, Kim Jung-Nam, 35, still has a considerable number of followers in the party, the cabinet and in the military. Analysts believe this may potentially lead to a power struggle between the two sons and their followers.
Cho Myong-Chul, a former professor at Kim Il-Sung University who defected to the South and is now a research fellow at the Korea Institute for External Economic Policy (KIET), said: “Only when Kim Jung-Chol physically subdues his brother Jung-Nam, can he emerge as the successor.”
