Officials Give Details Of Kim Jr.'s Travel, Government Activities

A senior South Korean government official said Monday that Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, is formally in charge of naming the key officials of the North's government and Workers' Party.

Considering that Kim Jong-il occupied the same post - director of organization supervision of the Workers' Party - before succeeding his father, Kim Il-sung, it seems likely that Kim Jong-nam is being groomed to be the next leader of North Korea.

The official added that Seoul has closely followed the events surrounding Kim Jong-nam's arrest in Japan for attempting to enter the country with a forged passport.

He added that the government is in the process of analyzing what impact the incident may have on the Kim Jong-il regime and its succession plans.

The official also said Kim Jong-nam's purpose of visiting Japan was not to inspect information technology facilities, as some have speculated, but simply to take his son to Tokyo Disneyland.

As for the identity of the two women who accompanied him to Japan, the official said the woman wearing sunglasses in photographs of the group is an interpreter at North Korea's Foreign Ministry. The other woman, Kim Jong-nam's cousin, has reportedly been taking care of his son.

Kim Jong-nam's wife, Sin Jong-hi, the daughter of the president of Air Koryo, North Korea's only airline, is reportedly living in Beijing.

The official said the South Korean government keeps track of Kim Jong-il's family members, including his eldest son, whenever they travel overseas.

He said that Kim Pyong-il, Kim Jong-il's stepbrother and the North's ambassador to Poland, and Kim Kyong-jin, his stepsister and the wife of the North Korean ambassador to Austria, are among those frequently watched.

South Korean intelligence officials said they expect Kim Jong-il to severely punish officials in charge of protecting his son for allowing him to leave the country without prior notice or approval, the official said.

by Lee Young-jong