It has been suggested that in the process of solidifying Kim Jong Eun’s status as successor, his half-brother and Kim Jong Il’s oldest son, Kim Jong Nam, may come under threat.

[imText1]A source with connections in North Korea told The Daily NK on Wednesday, “As efforts to fortify the succession of Kim Jong Eun pick up pace, Kim Jong Nam has become a ‘side branch’. There is a high chance something will happen to him because of Kim Jong Eun.”

The source went on, “Kim has felt threatened ever since Kim Jong Eun sent agents from the National Security Agency to quieten down his close associates in North Korea in 2009. This happened because he was going around places such as Beijing and Macau criticizing the succession to the foreign media.”

Some suspect that Kim Jong Eun may take further steps, maybe even eliminating Kim Jong Nam, should he continue to oppose the establishment of the succession,.

According to the source, “If Kim Jong Nam feels that his life is being endangered by his half-brother’s taking of power and resolves to seek exile overseas it could even shake up the Kim Jong Eun succession itself.”

The source also claimed that the purging of a number of high level cadres who were becoming obstacles to the succession is causing unrest in ‘cadre society’. Sections of the elite are feeling increasingly betrayed by the Kim family after a number of high profile executions, including Joo Sang Seong, the corruption-tainted former Director of the People’s Safety Ministry, Vice Prime Minister Lee Tae Nam and Vice Minister of the National Security Agency Ryu Kyung, who had been considered to be one of Kim’s most loyal followers.

Picking up on this growing opposition toward the regime, the North Korean authorities are now stepping up their idolization efforts targeting all levels of society. These efforts are centered around propaganda about Kim Jong Eun’s character and talents, and are designed to overcome the difficulty many North Korean people have in accepting Kim Jong Eun as leader given his age and lack of experience.

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According to the source, the North Korean authorities are now pushing forward with plans to publish a textbook glorifying Kim Jong Eun in the same vein as Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Suk and Kim Jong Il.

Last but not least, the source also noted, “The day can’t be far away now where there are portraits of Kim Jong Eun hanging up.”

He also revealed that North Korea submitted a portrait of Kim Jong Eun to the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, which was held earlier this month, saying, “They are now stepping up efforts to make Kim Jong Eun known overseas as well.”

A triptych of signs eulogizing three Kims is also springing up in North Korean offices and factories, while places the younger Kim visits are now being marked with plaques and signs memorializing the fact. The source also noted that Chosun Central Television is taking footage of Kim Jong Eun accompanying his father on onsite visits, but editing it to appear as though he is instructing officials on his own, thus giving people “the impression that he is participating in policy-making.”

KCTV also recently ran a report showing two of North Korea’s veteran political figures, Choi Tae Bok, the head of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and Secretary Kim Gi Nam, greeting Kim Jong Eun with a deep bow at Pyongyang Station.

According to the source, “They are trying to differentiate him from other cadres and emphasize his status as Kim Jong Il’s right-hand man, someone who comes close to matching his stature.”

“Rodong Shinmun used to run only four or five pictures of Kim Jong Eun with reports involving him, but these days the trend is to expand that to twenty or more,” he added.

Meanwhile, in reality Kim has taken a firm grip of the organs of social control.

“After establishing his status in areas such as personnel appointments within the NSA and other agencies of public oppression, Kim is now sharpening up controls so as to eradicate any inclinations towards South Korea and the so-called ‘anti-socialist’ phenomena.”

Under the gaze of his father, Kim Jong Eun has taken over the reins of military control, giving strategic instructions and ordering a military restructure through figures such as Chief of Staff Lee Young Hwa and Kim Jeong Gak, the First Vice-Director of the KPA General Political Department, buttressing his support base within the frontline forces by replacing the leaders of some 30 to 40 corps.

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Moreover, as of late Kim has been wielding the authority of the Party’s Guidance Department to conduct surveillance aimed at weeding out and purging corrupt officials and bringing in a new generation, aimed at taking back some of the influence the Party has lost to the army and the security forces over the last 20 years or more.

However the source cautioned that all of this only has limited meaning, pointing out, “Although Kim Jong Eun is establishing his authority through the military and security agencies, it is all happening within the embrace of Kim Jong Il, so it is not contributing to his own status. What’s more is that the people don’t even feel his existence, so it is going to be hard to try and elicit their support going forward.”