<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Kim Jong Un the 'Brilliant Comrade'
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Seoul - North Korea may be on the verge of engineering a new personality cult with reports that the youngest son of its authoritarian leader has been given the title 'Brilliant Comrade'.
The title was a clear sign the communist regime was preparing the 26-year-old to succeed the ailing Mr Kim Jong Il, a newspaper reported.
The United States and South Korean intelligence authorities disclosed during a meeting last week that Mr Kim Jong Un is now being referred to in the secretive regime as Yongmyong-han Dongji, which translates roughly as 'Brilliant Comrade', South Korea's mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported last Friday.
An unidentified intelligence official quoted by the newspaper said the title means the North will engineer a cult of personality for the younger Kim - much like it was done for his father and grandfather Kim Il Sung, the only two leaders North Korea has known.
The eldest Kim, who was referred to as the 'Great Leader', died in 1994, paving the way for the first hereditary transfer of power in a communist nation. His son Kim Jong Il, 67, became the 'Dear Leader'.
Grandiose titles are part of a tradition to stimulate public support in a nation where the media is tightly controlled and little information about the inner workings of the government is available.
The leader is given credit for most national projects. The state media carry endless flattering reports about Mr Kim, repeatedly referring to him by his various titles of which 'Dear Leader' is the most prominent.
Earlier last week, North Korea's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in an editorial that an important issue concerning the nation's fate and its revolution had been resolved.
Mr Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute think-tank outside Seoul said this was an apparent reference to a power transfer.
'It indicates that North Korea has resolved the succession issue,' he said.
AP <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start --><!-- vbbintegration : end --><!-- dennis change request 20070424 : start --><!---Google ad - Start : Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:03:31:605---><!-- AdSpace STI Google ad tag --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tsti&pagepos=20&size=10X10"> </SCRIPT>
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Seoul - North Korea may be on the verge of engineering a new personality cult with reports that the youngest son of its authoritarian leader has been given the title 'Brilliant Comrade'.
The title was a clear sign the communist regime was preparing the 26-year-old to succeed the ailing Mr Kim Jong Il, a newspaper reported.
The United States and South Korean intelligence authorities disclosed during a meeting last week that Mr Kim Jong Un is now being referred to in the secretive regime as Yongmyong-han Dongji, which translates roughly as 'Brilliant Comrade', South Korea's mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported last Friday.
An unidentified intelligence official quoted by the newspaper said the title means the North will engineer a cult of personality for the younger Kim - much like it was done for his father and grandfather Kim Il Sung, the only two leaders North Korea has known.
The eldest Kim, who was referred to as the 'Great Leader', died in 1994, paving the way for the first hereditary transfer of power in a communist nation. His son Kim Jong Il, 67, became the 'Dear Leader'.
Grandiose titles are part of a tradition to stimulate public support in a nation where the media is tightly controlled and little information about the inner workings of the government is available.
The leader is given credit for most national projects. The state media carry endless flattering reports about Mr Kim, repeatedly referring to him by his various titles of which 'Dear Leader' is the most prominent.
Earlier last week, North Korea's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in an editorial that an important issue concerning the nation's fate and its revolution had been resolved.
Mr Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute think-tank outside Seoul said this was an apparent reference to a power transfer.
'It indicates that North Korea has resolved the succession issue,' he said.
AP <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start --><!-- vbbintegration : end --><!-- dennis change request 20070424 : start --><!---Google ad - Start : Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:03:31:605---><!-- AdSpace STI Google ad tag --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tsti&pagepos=20&size=10X10"> </SCRIPT>
