Shenyang, China — “The eldest son is succeeding me,” or so Kim Jong Il is said to have remarked.
A source from Jagang Province reported on Thursday in an interview with Daily NK, “When the General (Kim Jong Il) visited Kangkye in December last year, he was accompanied by his eldest son. He introduced his son to the provincial cadres of the Party, saying that ‘He is my eldest son, who will succeed me.’”
However, the source added, “There was not any detailed introduction of the eldest son, like a name or career. The cadres called him only ‘the General’s son’ or ‘the General’s eldest son.’”
The possibility that the man was Kim Jong Nam is high, not only because of the elder Kim’s introduction, but also, “According to the cadres involved with the No. 1 Event, which means a Kim Jong Il-related event, the alleged eldest son looked to be in his mid-30s, and Jagang Province cadres have a thorough grip on information about the eldest son,” he added.
Therefore, the source said, “The cadres in Jagang Province had been thinking the eldest son would be the successor, so they were astonished at the rumors of Jong Woon. Some even suggest that a ‘princes’ war’ might break out.”
According to the source, during Kim Jong Il’s onsite inspections, which started on December 16 and lasted for a week, a person who was introduced as the eldest son accompanied Kim Jong Il and managed all kinds of things including Kim’s escort, health care and events.
He reported the atmosphere of the Jankang Province cadres, “When the General stated ‘the eldest son will succeed me,’ they welcomed it, because the eldest son stayed in Kangkye for a while when he was a child.”
He added, “However, nowadays rumors of Jong Woon came from outside Jagang Province and are circulating. It is hard to understand that the successor would have been changed only a month after the General introduced the eldest son as the successor. There may have been some complicated internal affairs. Can we no longer trust in what the General says?”
