North Korea is a closed dictatorship that remains largely unknown to the outside world. However, recent revelations from a South Korean scholar shed light on some intriguing details about the former leader Kim Jong-il’s decision-making regarding his son and successor, Kim Jong-un.
According to a report by Radio Free Asia, Cheong Seong-chang, the director of the Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, recently held a press conference to introduce his new book, titled “What we don’t know about Kim Jong Un: His politics and strategy”.
The book extensively cites testimonies from Kim Jong-un’s aunt, Ko Yong Suk, and her husband, Ri Gang, who were members of Kim Jong-il’s inner circle. They resided across the street from Kim Jong-il’s residence and provided valuable insights that were included in Cheong Seong-chang’s book.
Cheong Seong-chang revealed that Kim Jong-il may have designated his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor as early as 1992 when Kim Jong-un was just 8 years old, nearly a decade earlier than previously believed by experts and observers.
According to Ko Yong Suk and Ri Gang’s testimonies, in 1992, on Kim Jong-un’s 8th birthday, Kim Jong-il reportedly said to Ri Gang, “From now on, my successor is Kim Jong-un.” This display of early succession planning challenges the conventional timeline and assumptions surrounding Kim Jong-un’s rise to power.
Cheong Seong-chang emphasized Kim Jong-il’s fondness for Kim Jong-un, believing they shared similarities that made him the chosen successor. If Ko Yong Suk and Ri Gang’s testimonies are accurate, it would mean Kim Jong-un is currently 41 years old, born in 1984, rather than the claimed 1982 birthdate by Pyongyang.
Contrary to previous beliefs that Kim Jong-nam was designated as Kim Jong-il’s successor, Cheong Seong-chang’s narrative flips this notion on its head. He pointed out that most senior North Korean officials had already recognized Kim Jong-un as the future leader as early as 1995.
Addressing the controversy surrounding Kim Jong-un’s birthplace, Cheong Seong-chang revealed that Kim Jong-un was born in a private mansion in the northeastern part of central Pyongyang, a detail long kept secret by the North Korean regime.
There is still uncertainty from South Korean intelligence on the exact location of Kim Jong-un’s birthplace, with some speculating it to be a private estate in Hamhung, a port city in eastern North Korea, owned by his mother, Ko Yong Hui.
Moreover, the testimonies from Ko Yong Suk and Ri Gang, if verified, confirm Kim Jong-un’s birth year as 1984. The North Korean regime allegedly adjusted his birth year to 1982 for easier historical comparisons with his grandfather and father.
In his book, Cheong Seong-chang delves into the topic of Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, born in 2013, suggesting she may be groomed as a potential successor, contradicting previous intelligence reports that claimed Kim Jong-un had a son in 2010.
Cheong Seong-chang highlighted the strategic move of introducing Kim Ju Ae at a young age to the public eye, signaling a potential shift in leadership dynamics as she could be the first female leader after three generations of male rulers.
This contrasts sharply with Kim Jong-il’s late announcement of Kim Jong-un as his successor only when his health deteriorated significantly. Cheong Seong-chang also dismissed the myth surrounding the “seven on a funeral cart”, a reference to Kim Jong-il’s closest confidants, revealing that only two of them were purged.
Among the two purged individuals was Ri Yong-ho, former North Korean Foreign Minister, and Kim Jong-un’s uncle, Jang Song Theak, who was instrumental in leading the country in Kim Jong-il’s ailing health period.
The execution of Jang Song Theak in 2013 effectively eliminated any potential challenge to Kim Jong-un’s authority, sending a clear message to dissenters and consolidating his position as the heir apparent.
Furthermore, Cheong Seong-chang disclosed that Jang Song Theak’s wife, Kim Kyong-hui, had repeatedly sought a divorce from her husband, which was approved shortly before Kim Jong-il’s passing. This detail signifies that by the time Jang Song Theak was executed, he was no longer affiliated with Kim Jong-un as an uncle.
Lastly, Cheong Seong-chang mentioned that three of the seven individuals resigned due to old age, with the remaining two leaving their positions for reasons unrelated to any political purges.