By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Kim Jong-un, the third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is reportedly being groomed to replace his father as leader of the communist state in the next couple of years, is eager to learn English and has a strong drive to win, according to a North Korea watcher here Tuesday.

The shifting power in the Stalinist country sends a clear signal that South Korea and other participating countries in the six-party talks are running out of time to end the North's nuclear program, warned Cheong Seong-chang, director of the inter-Korean relations program at the Sejong Institute in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

``Jong-un, 26, might have stayed in Switzerland for a much shorter period of time than his brother Jong-chol who studied at the International School of Berne in the country from 1993 to 1998,'' Cheong told The Korea Times.

The North Korea expert said that it was not clear if the younger Kim had stayed or studied in Switzerland before, but if he had done, it would have been sometime between 1996 and 1998.

Born on Jan. 8, 1983, Jong-un is the son of Ko Young-hee, the third wife of Kim Jong-il who died of breast cancer in 2004 in France.

According to Cheong, who last December interviewed Kenji Fujimoto, the chef who closely watched the North Korean leader and his family from 1988 to 2001, Jong-un resembled his father most among Kim's three sons when it came to personality, leadership style and body shape. Probably because of this, he said, Jong-un was Kim's favorite son.

During his childhood years, Jong-un liked playing basketball with his brother Jung-chol.

After games, Jong-chol, who was described as a mild-tempered man with no political ambitions by Fujimoto, gave encouraging comments to his teammates for their efforts, while Jong-un rebuked them when things went wrong and warned them not repeat the same mistakes again.

``According to Fujimoto, the third son was eager to improve his English skills,'' said Cheong.

He made the remarks after the National Intelligence Service said the younger Kim appears to have been confirmed as the North's next leader.

A source at the spy agency was quoted as saying that the North Korean leadership sent a memo to its embassies abroad shortly after the country's second nuclear test last week notifying that the younger Kim would be the successor.

Other sources said North Korea Workers Party members, military personnel and diplomats have taken an oath of allegiance to the younger Kim.

Cheong interpreted that the North sent the memo to its diplomats as part of the official succession process, but that this didn't mean it was complete.

The North reportedly informed high-ranking officials and key post holders of the younger Kim's forthcoming rise to power in the post-Kim Jong-il era earlier this year.

``These procedures are needed to draw bottom-up support from grass-root people for Jung-un to lead the Stalinist country as the next leader. This last stage, especially, matters to justify the new leadership,'' the expert explained.

Cheong forecast that the younger Kim's succession will mean a lot for the prospects of the North Korean nuclear program.

``Kim Jong-il has a tight grip on the military and power elite in the party and he believes that the North could ― though with difficult ― give up its nuclear program when all conditions are met. But this is not the case with the younger Kim,'' he said.

``The core lesson policymakers should learn is that we are running out of time to end the nuclear program, and it will be easier for negotiators to deal with Kim Jong-il than his son whose power base is weaker than his father,'' he added.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr