Hollywood Celebs’ Gossips

Photo: Kim Jong Un’s mom Ko Young Hee

Kim Jong Un

Update: South Korea’s Yohap News Agency again said in April Kim Jong Un is Kim Jong Il’s successor after he was appointed as a military post in the communist nation’s top military organization National Defense Commission. In May, South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo Newspaper cited former defector Kim Duk Hong as saying Jong Un’s brother Kim Jong Chul was heir appairent.

On June 1, 2009, Kim Jong Un (not Kim Jong Chul) was confirmed as Kim Jong Il’s designated successor by some South Korea lawmakers based on the intelligence they received.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il designated his third and youngest son, Jong-un, as his successor shortly after the country’s second nuclear test, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday, quoting lawmakers.

The confirmation, given to members of the National Assembly information and intelligence committee Monday [June 1, 2009], is the first word from the Seoul government regarding North Korea’s next leader following months of media speculation.

“I was notified by the government yesterday that there are such ongoings (of succession), and that they (North Koreans) make loyalty pledges to Kim Jong-un,” Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party, a member of the intelligence committee and close aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, said in a radio interview.

Sources told Yonhap News Agency Monday that immediately after the May 25 test, Kim notified the country’s key institutions ― the Korean People’s Army, the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and the Cabinet ― as well as its diplomatic missions abroad that he has designated Kim Jong-un as his successor.

It was believed North Korea recently undertook the second underground nuclear weapon test and numerous missiles launches in order to bolster Kim Jong Il’s leadership so that he could have a smooth power succession process to his son.

Analysts have said the North’s recent military grandstanding, including a nuclear test last week and continued missile launches, were partially timed to help the ailing “Dear Leader” solidify a power base so he can name a successor.

“Recent nuclear and missile tests by the North have both domestic and international implications,” said Paik Hak-soon, senior researcher at Sejong Institute.

“One of the domestic implications may be that Kim Jong-il wants to simplify the succession process to his son, which is determined not just by Kim but also by the senior members of the North Korean government, the Workers’ Party and the military.” [Korea Herald]

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Kim Jong Un (picture), Kim Jong Il’s youngest son, is said to have been picked as the successor of ailing North Korea’s Dear Leader, according to reports. WSJ of Chinese version cited South Korea’s Yohap news agency is saying Kimg Jong Il made his decision around January 8, by appointing Kim Jong Un as the leader of Worker’s Party.

From AP: North Korea’s Kim Taps 3rd Son, Kim Jong Un, As Successor:

Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea specialist at the independent Sejong Institute, said the reported choice of Jong Un seemed to be a feasible scenario. “Jong Un has leadership (qualities) and a desire to grab power,” Cheong told The Associated Press, adding that he thought he was the most qualified of the three sons to lead North Korea at a difficult time.

UK’s Times is suspecting if Kim Jong Un who would eventually be installed as the new North Korea’s leader there would be no major improvement from the improvised Communist state.

North Korea’s enigmatic and ailing dictator, Kim Jong Il, is thought to have made a surprise selection of the man who will succeed him as leader of the nuclear-armed, Stalinist autocracy when he is gone. Intelligence sources in Seoul today suggested that – very much against the expectations of South Korean analysis – Mr Kim, 66, has chosen this youngest and favourite son, Jong Un, to take over the all-pervasive family personality cult that controls the country. The potential heir, who is thought to be no more than 24 years old, was educated in Switzerland and is the offspring of Kim’s third marriage and supposedly favourite wife – a woman who died five years ago. In the regular and heated speculation among North Korea watchers over the shape of a world without Mr Kim, Jong Un has been routinely dismissed as a likely successor because of his youth. Little about his upbringing is thought to make him especially suited to the task of following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps. If Jong Un does eventually assume control, he will inherit a persistently moribund economy, relations across the Korean peninsula that have plumbed new lows and an agricultural crisis that annually pushes the country dangerously close to outright famine.

Kim Jong Un, (also Kim Jong-woon, Kim Jong-woong, 金正云 in Chinese), was born (around 1983 to 1984) to Kim Jong Il’s third wife Ko Yong Hee (also Ko Yong Hi), a Japan-born Korea actress. There is extremely little known about Jong Un, other than he once received education in Europe’s Swithzerland. His appointment as father’s heir is on par with the revelation of Kim Jong-il’s former Japanese sushi chef Kenji Fujimoto who said years ago Jong Un is Kim Jong Il’s preferred successor.

Kim Jong-il’s former chef, Kenji Fujimoto, revealed details of Kim Jong-woon, stating that he is favoured to be his father’s successor. Fujimoto also claimed that Jong-woon is favoured by his father over his elder brother, Jong-chul, reasoning that Jong-chul is too feminine in terms of his character, while Jong-woon is “exactly like his father”.

Not like his two brothers Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chul who were seen in the public for a few times in the past, this of Kim Jong Il’s third son was never seen publicly. Together with the fact that North Korea never released official biographies about Kim Jong Il’s sons, Kim Jong Un photo was no way to be spotted at any media.

Kim Jong Chul mis-identified as Kim Jong Un on the wiki-site 18dao.cn

Kim Jong Un elder brother Kim jong Chul photo