NK Daily Implies Designation of Successor

A leading North Korean newspaper Wednesday used the new term “party core” in implying that Pyongyang has designated the third son of leader Kim Jong Il as his successor.

The Rodong Shinmun (Labor Newspaper) said in an editorial, "We must safeguard the party’s central committee led by our great leader Kim Jong Il and unite, unite, unite around the party core."

The party will host in September the first meeting of its central political bureau in 44 years.

“Party core” is a term the daily used immediately after Kim Jong Il joined the bureau in February 1974 at the eighth assembly of the party’s central committee.

Experts say use of the term could mean the leader’s third son, Kim Jong Un, has been named successor.

"Party core" had been used several times in the North but often referred to Kim Jong Il retrospectively after his designation as successor in 1980. The term was not used retrospectively this time.

"Because Kim Jong Il, the party’s central committee, and the party core appeared in one sentence, the party core could mean Kim Jong Un," said Cheong Seong-chang, senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute in Seoul.

“North Korea likely held a meeting of its central political bureau before the Supreme People’s Assembly convened last month and selected Kim Jong Un to head the bureau.”

zeitung@donga.com