By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
A North Korea watcher here claimed Sunday that the chances of a power struggle after a sudden change in the communist state are slim.
``If no one was designated to replace Kim Jong-il as leader of the North before a sudden change, then a power struggle would be inevitable. But this will not be the case for North Korea because its current leader reportedly designated his youngest son Jong-un as his successor,'' said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the inter-Korean relations program at the Sejong Institute.
Cheong speculated in a column contributed to the July issue of a monthly magazine that the North would officially designate Jong-un as the next leader between late September and early October.
Considering that the North is scheduled to commemorate the foundation of the communist party on Oct. 10, the North Korea expert said the official designation would be made before that event.
His observation came days after President Lee Myung-bak said in a meeting with leaders of ruling and opposition parties last Saturday that South Korea needed to prepare for sudden change in the North and start the discussion now.
Earlier, a high-ranking government official said on condition of anonymity that a sudden change could take place in North Korea this year and that South Korea should be prepared for it.