TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2005
Red dynasty is N Korea's way
REUTERS
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will in time hand over power to one of his sons, South Korean media quoted North Korea state radio as saying in a recent broadcast.
The report has intrigued analysts not only with its content, but with its timing.
South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said the North’s official KRT radio quoted Kim Jong-il as saying he would stand by the will of his father, North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, that the revolution would be continued by a grandson.
The reclusive state has been ruled for 60 years by a father-and-son leadership, making it the world’s only Communist dynasty. "I will uphold father president's instructions," the JoongAng Ilbo quoted Kim Jong-il as saying on KRT.
Kim Il-sung had "stressed that if he leaves the job unfinished, it will be continued by his son and grandson," the commentary said.
Kim Il-sung died in 1994 and over a three-year period his son, Kim Jong-il, took over as chairman of the powerful Defence Commission. He never took on the presidency in deference to his late father, who is still surrounded by a personality cult.
"If our tradition is great, then the inheritance of it should be great as well," the newspaper quoted the commentary as saying.
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