Despite Kim Jong-il’s effort to veil his heir-apparent from the outside curiosity in next week’s rare Workers’ Party Conference, the meeting held in 44 years will be an inevitable occasion for the world to know who takes the helm of the world’s most impoverished country, a British publication predicted.
However, the report also warned that if the North chooses to give the matter a low profile, it would be a bad sign for the outside world, as it would mean uncertainty of leadership in the regime.
“Whatever (Kim Jong-il) does, the issue of succession is likely to escape the secrecy in which it has been wrapped for decades,” the Economist said on Saturday.
The publication said the transition could produce some “dangerous” moments―and not just on the peninsula, but also for China, North Korea’s sole remaining protector, arguing that the elder Kim has yet to finally decide to pick his third son, Jong-un, as the crown prince.
“The older Kim, who has been in power since 1994, may be frail, but it is not clear that he is yet ready to anoint his 20-something, basketball-loving boy,” it said.
The report throws doubt on the qualifications of Jong-un, who is still in his 20s, for running a derelict country with a nuclear arsenal and one of the world’s five biggest armies are seriously in doubt.
Given the sensitivity involved in the heir anointment, the report said North Korea will try to keep a low profile on the heir in the conference. “It is thus possible that the conference may pass with barely a word about succession,” it said.
For the outside world, that’s a bad sign, it argued, because it would mean the regime will be unstable without a firm leadership in charge.
“If this is true, North Korea’s neighbours should brace themselves for a rough ride. The omens for a seamless transition are not good.”
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