speculations about N. Korean Kim's heir to share power with his uncle and the military
North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.
The younger Kim, who is in his late 20s, has his own supporters, but is not strong enough to consolidate power, analysts said.
“I know that he's been able to build a group of supporters around himself who are of his generation,” said Koh Yu-hwan, president of the Korean Association of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
“So it is not entirely elders in their 70s, plus some like Jang in their 60s, who are backing him. These young backers will be emerging fairly soon.”
Koh said the coterie was put in place by Kim Jong Il before he died. “The relative calm seen these few days shows it’s been effective. If things were not running smoothly, then we’d have seen a longer period of ‘rule by mummy,’ with Kim Jong Il being faked as still being alive.”
He said the younger Kim would accept the setup, for now. “Considering the tradition of strong-arm rule by his father and grandfather, things can’t be easy for him,” he said.
These comments are the first signal that North Korea is following a course that many analysts have anticipated, it will be governed by a group of people for the first time since it was founded in 1948. Both Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung were all-powerful, authoritarian rulers of the isolated state. According to these speculations North Korea’s collective leadership will include Kim Jong Un, his uncle and the military.
Jang Song Thaek, 65, brother-in-law of Kim Jong Iil and the younger Kim’s uncle, is seen as the power behind the throne along with his wife Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Il’s sister. So too is Ri Yong Ho, the rising star of the North’s military and currently its senior-most general.
North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.
The younger Kim, who is in his late 20s, has his own supporters, but is not strong enough to consolidate power, analysts said.
“I know that he's been able to build a group of supporters around himself who are of his generation,” said Koh Yu-hwan, president of the Korean Association of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
“So it is not entirely elders in their 70s, plus some like Jang in their 60s, who are backing him. These young backers will be emerging fairly soon.”
Koh said the coterie was put in place by Kim Jong Il before he died. “The relative calm seen these few days shows it’s been effective. If things were not running smoothly, then we’d have seen a longer period of ‘rule by mummy,’ with Kim Jong Il being faked as still being alive.”
He said the younger Kim would accept the setup, for now. “Considering the tradition of strong-arm rule by his father and grandfather, things can’t be easy for him,” he said.
These comments are the first signal that North Korea is following a course that many analysts have anticipated, it will be governed by a group of people for the first time since it was founded in 1948. Both Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung were all-powerful, authoritarian rulers of the isolated state. According to these speculations North Korea’s collective leadership will include Kim Jong Un, his uncle and the military.
Jang Song Thaek, 65, brother-in-law of Kim Jong Iil and the younger Kim’s uncle, is seen as the power behind the throne along with his wife Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Il’s sister. So too is Ri Yong Ho, the rising star of the North’s military and currently its senior-most general.
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