North Korean leader puts son in charge of spy agency

The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has taken charge at the country’s spy agency to prepare him to inherit the leadership of the communist nation from his father, reports claimed today.

Mr Kim told senior officials of the State Security Department in March to “uphold” his 26-year-old third son, Kim Jong Un, as head of the agency, while doling out foreign-made luxury cars to the officials as gifts, South Korean reports claimed.

Mr Kim told the officials to “safeguard comrade Kim Jong Un with (your) lives as you did for me in the past”.

The five cars given to them were worth some US$80,000 (€56,688) each it was reported.

It was also alleged the younger Mr Kim has overseen the handling of two US journalists detained in March while on a reporting trip to the China-North Korea border. The reporters were sentenced to 12 years of hard labour earlier this month for illegal border crossing and hostile acts.

South Korea’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said it could not confirm the report.

Pyongyang’s State Security Department is the backbone of Mr Kim senior’s harsh rule over the nation. It keeps a close watch over government agencies, the military and the public for any signs of dissent. It also engages in spy missions abroad.

The move to put Kim Jong Un in charge of the agency illustrates the elder Kim’s concern about any possible backlash that the father-to-son succession could prompt.

Who will eventually rule the nuclear-armed North has been the focus of intense media speculation since leader Mr Kim, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke last summer. That sparked regional concerns about instability and a possible power struggle if he died without naming a successor.

Kim Jong Il inherited North Korea after his father and founding leader Kim Il Sung died in 1994.

Kim Jong Il has two other known sons. The eldest one, Jong Nam, 38, was considered the favourite to succeed his father until he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001, reportedly to visit the Disney resort.

Kim considers the middle son, Jong Chol, 28, too effeminate, according to the leader’s former sushi chef.