GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The “Great Successor”, Kim Jong-un, has officially been named the successor to his father, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, 69, who died Monday 19 December of a heart attack while traveling, according to media reports coming out of the country. The son, who is reportedly in his late 20s, surfaced as part of N Korea’s political picture in 2010, when he was appointed to several senior posts, including military ones.
He spent some of his time in early adolescence at a state school in Bern.
South Korea has put its military forces on high alert; the two countries have officially been at war for more than 60 years and N Korea in recent months has been the target of much criticism from the West for its nuclear programme.
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Ambassador Stephen Bosworth speaks with the press following talks between the US and North Korea - Photo Eric Bridiers US Mission
Updated: 17:32 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The second bilateral encounter between North Korea and the United States of America on de-nuclearization concluded on a somehow “positive” note.
It was “generally constructive” said outgoing US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth who responded that both governments had “narrowed differences in terms of what has to be done before [they] can both agree to a resumption of the formal negotiations.”
“We can reach a reasonable basis of departure for formal negotiations for a return to the Six-Party process,” said Bosworth.
The two-day meeting is the latest in recent months between the US and North Korea, as well as the two Koreas.
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan of North Korea met with Bosworth, Washington’s outgoing top envoy for Pyongyang, and Special Representative Glyn Davies, who will from now on be “actively engaged” in the discussions on the North Korean nuclear program.
The US Ambassador thanked the Swiss authorities for what he called “the cooperation extended” to the talks.
“I just want to say that we’ve had some very positive and I think generally constructive talks with the DPRK delegation over the course of the last two days.
We narrowed differences on several points and explored our differences on others. We came to the conclusion that we will need more time and more discussion to reach agreement in an effort to assess whether we have sufficient agreement to resume our active negotiations both bilaterally and in the Six-Party process.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A North Korean senior official has announced it and photo agencies have offered living proof that Kim Jong Un will likely succeed his father, Kim Jong Il, as leader of North Korea when the father dies. Kim Jong-Il has been in failing health since a cerebral hemorrhage in August 2008.
The leader-to-be, who attended school in canton Bern as a young teenager, is an apple-cheeked young man now, whose exact age is not known. In September he was made a four-star general, and photos of a major parade review Sunday 10 October in Pyongyang are the first to show him with his father.
The meeting of the ruling Workers Party of Korea which was to officially announce the country’s new leader has not taken place. The conclave, the first such meeting since 1980, was scheduled for “early September”, and government officials are blaming the severe flooding that disrupted the country’s transportation links.
Other theories say that Dear Leader Kim Jong Il is too seriously ill, perhaps from diabetes. Many observers agree that something odd is going on in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, but reliable information is hard to come by. The South’s present administration has sidelined many of the intelligence experts who had long-standing contacts with their northern counterparts.
A flurry of conciliatory moves from North Korea – offers to hold military talks with the south, a move to resume family reunion visits, the release of the crew of a fishing boat seized in August – follow the most tense months in recent memory, involving the sinking of a South Korean warship.
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Five days of meetings between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Hu Jintao Chinese president in Beijing have resulted in an agreement to strengthen their commercial ties and work more closely to foster security in the region, the Chinese government announced Friday 7 May. Official Chinese statements have the North’s leader reconfirming his commitment to denuclearization, but South Korean media were unhappy that official remarks made no mention of discussions over a boat that the South suspects the North of sinking.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Ri Tcheul (also spelled Chol) 75-year-old North Korean diplomat who has been ambassador to the United Nations and international organizations since 1987 and ambassador to Switzerland as well since 1998, is rumoured to be leaving Geneva soon. The North Korean mission has not confirmed or denied the information. AP news agency reports that the South Korean government cannot confirm the information.
Media reports from South Korea say that Ri, who is widely believed to have managed funds for longtime leader Kim Jong-il, is leaving for unknown reasons, but given his long tenure in Geneva they are probably not political. He arrived in Geneva in 1980 as foreign minister for the North Korean mission.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is reported by North Korean media to have told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao his country is willing to return to 6-party talks. First, however, progress must be made in bilateral talks with the US, according to media reports. The US says it wants North Korea to agree to a complete denuclearization on the penninsula. The Chinese leader has just rreturned to Beijing after a three-day visit to North Korea. The six-party talks broke down earlier in 2009.
Links to other sites: BBC video showing celebrations of 60 years of ties with China, NPR, Xinhua
The Financial Times has learned that Italy has blocked the sale of two luxury yachts for an estimated $17.8 million because it suspected they were for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The sale would have broken international sanctions against the country. Financial Times
International media are picking up speculation by South Korean television, based on what it says sources have told it, that the North’s leader, Kim-Jong Il, has pancreatic cancer that is putting his life in danger. The information is unconfirmed but is causing concern because of the instability that could be provoked in the North if he dies without a successor clearly in place. Swiss-educated younger son Kim Jong-un is rumoured to be in line to succeed him, but North Korea has not made an announcement to this effect, notes the Guardian, UK.
Kim Jong-un, the 26-year old third son of North Korea’s dear leader Kim Jong-il paid an official and secret visit to Beijing 10 June and was presented to the Chinese leadership as his father’s designated heir. Analysts speculate that the Swiss-educated Kim was named by his father to succeed him because of the elder Kim’s failing health. In Bern, Switzerland, a public school in Koeniz called a press conference after reports in Japanese newspapers that the younger Kim had also attended a public school there, not just the private International School in Guemligen. Reuters, NZZ (Ger)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch and sources) – Aging and probably ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il surprised the world by reportedly naming his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, 26, as the new leader of North Korea, according to South Korean media, who cite the South’s spy agency. Kim Jong Un spent much of his youth at the International School of Bern in Switzerland where he was learned English, French and German, and he was known to be shy, a fan of basketball and action sports. Even if the rumours of his succession are true, it could be years before he steps into the job.
Ed. note: Swiss news magazine and GL partner l’Hebdo 19 March 2009 carried a lengthy feature on the boy known in Bern as Chol Pak: Kim Jong Il.
