North Korea has promoted leader Kim Jong-Il’s youngest son to general, state media said on Tuesday ahead of a rare party meeting widely expected to anoint him as eventual successor to his ailing father.
The announcement that Kim Jong-Un is now a four-star general was the first time official media in the reclusive communist state has carried the name of the young man, who remains an enigma overseas.
It came hours before the scheduled opening of a communist party conference on Tuesday, the highest-level political meeting in three decades.
Analysts said the promotion makes it virtually certain the Swiss-educated son, believed to be aged about 27, will one day step into his ailing father’s shoes as ruler of the impoverished nuclear-armed nation.
Also appointed four-star generals were the leader’s sister Kim Kyong-Hui and Choe Ryong-Hae, a longtime aide to the Kim dynasty which has ruled with an iron fist since the country was founded in 1948.
As of mid-morning there was no official word that the Workers’ Party conference had begun as scheduled. But media has carried photos of crowds of delegates -- in suit and tie or military uniform -- arriving for the event.
At the last major ruling party meeting in 1980, Kim Jong-Il was confirmed as eventual successor to his father Kim Il-Sung. Kim, 68, reportedly has kidney problems and had a stroke two years ago, making a succession process more urgent.
But until Tuesday Jong-Un’s name had never been carried by official media. No adult photo of him has been seen outside the secretive country.
Kim Kyong-Hui, 64, is married to Jang Song-Thaek, who is widely seen as the nation’s second most powerful man. She and her husband are thought likely to act as guardians for the young and inexperienced son if the leader dies or is forced to step down due to ill health.
The conference will take place amid high regional tensions sparked by the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March, and a deadlock in six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
