North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has put his youngest son in charge of the country's spy agency as a prelude to handing over control of the communist regime, The Associated Press reported Wednesday, quoting a news report.

Kim visited the headquarters of the State Security Department in March, along with his 26-year-old son, Kim Jong-un, and told agency leaders to ``uphold'' his third son as head of the department, the
Dong-a Ilbo was quoted as reporting.

Kim also told department leaders to ``safeguard comrade Kim Jong-un with (your) lives as you did for me in the past,'' and gave them five foreign-made cars, each worth some $80,000, as gifts, according to AP.

It said Kim visited a college that educates spy agents last month and made similar remarks there.

Pyongyang's State Security Department is the backbone of Kim's harsh rule over the totalitarian nation. It keeps a close watch over government agencies, the military and ordinary people 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, according to the Dong-a.

The paper also said the younger Kim oversaw the handling of two American journalists detained in March while on a reporting trip to the China-North Korea border. The reporters were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor earlier this month for illegal border crossing and hostile acts.