Son's appointment sparks Kim succession speculation

The third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been assigned to a post at the country’s all-powerful National Defence Commission, it was reported, a possible sign that he is being groomed as his father’s successor.

Yonhap news agency said Mr Kim’s youngest son, 26-year-old Jong Un, took up a low-level post at his father’s defence commission, days before the country’s parliament reappointed the senior Mr Kim as the organisation’s chairman on April 9.