Korea’s leader-in-waiting unlikely to push for reform

North Korea's leader-in-waiting is unlikely to pursue reform and openness as he needs to strengthen his power base during a transitional period, a former senior intelligence official said Wednesday.

Kim Jong-un is being groomed to succeed his father Kim Jong-il as the country's next leader in what would be the country's second hereditary power transfer. The elder Kim inherited power from his father, the country's founder Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994.

"There is very little possibility that Kim Jong-un could embark on reform and openness in the short term," said Han Ki-bum, who handled North Korean affairs at Seoul's National Intelligence Service between 2008 and 2009.

The assessment comes as the North is struggling to improve its faltering economy as part of attempts to build a prosperous nation by next year, the centennial of the birth of the country's late founder.

Han said North Korean officials could balk at changing economic policy even if the heir apparent son demands it, due to concern over the possible prosecution later.

North Korea purged economic bureaucrats by holding them responsible for policy failure in 2002, Han said in a forum.

In 2002, the North introduced market elements into its centrally controlled economy, scrapping its decades-old food rationing system, raising wages and lifting prices of goods sold at "farmers markets."

However, the experiment with limited reforms touched off serious inflation mainly because of a short supply of goods.

It is not unusual for the communist country to execute senior officials for policy blunders.

Last year, the North reportedly executed Pak Nam-ki, former chief of the planning and finance department of the ruling Workers' Party, over Pyongyang's botched currency reform in 2009 that caused massive inflation and worsened food shortages. (Yonhap)