[ti:North Korea Clears Way for a Third-Generation Kim as Leader ] [ar:Doug Johnson] [al:IN THE NEWS] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS [00:06.52]in VOA Special English. [00:09.26]Little is known inside [00:11.66]or outside North Korea [00:13.95]about the young man [00:15.49]who could become the next leader. [00:18.48]Kim Jong Un studied [00:21.57]in Switzerland [00:22.61]but even his age is a mystery. [00:25.30]He is around twenty-seven, [00:27.69]the youngest of the three [00:29.53]known sons of Kim Jong Il. [00:32.81]The North Korean leader [00:34.70]is sixty-eight and believed [00:36.84]to be in poor health. [00:38.34]This week, North Korea [00:41.72]published the first official photo [00:44.26]of Kim Jong Un after a meeting [00:47.20]of the ruling Workers' Party. [00:49.14]Some observers had expected him [00:52.62]to be named [00:53.57]as the country's next leader. [00:55.31]But North Korea expert Gordon Flake [00:59.64]at the Mansfield Foundation [01:02.67]in Washington says [01:04.41]the process is not that simple. [01:07.05]GORDON FLAKE: "What we're seeing here [01:08.25]is not the succession. [01:09.09]What we're seeing here [01:10.19]is the first public indications [01:12.48]of the beginning of the process [01:15.26]of potential succession. [01:16.66]But Kim Jong Il is still in power. [01:18.75]And so this really is not [01:20.69]an institutional rule. [01:21.63]This is a personal family rule." [01:25.07]Kim Jong Il came to power [01:27.65]after his father, North Korea's [01:30.44]founder Kim Il Sung, [01:32.48]died in nineteen ninety-four. [01:35.37]This week, Kim Jong Un [01:38.95]and his aunt, [01:40.05]the sister of Kim Jong Il, [01:42.44]became four-star generals [01:44.92]with little military experience. [01:48.22]State media later announced [01:50.86]the appointment of Kim Jong Un [01:53.14]to the Workers' [01:53.99]Party Central Committee. [01:55.89]He was also named to the powerful [01:58.93]Central Military Commission. [02:01.47]There, he joins Jang Song Taek, [02:05.30]who is considered second [02:07.19]in power after Kim Jong Il. [02:09.88]Jang Song Taek is married [02:12.71]to Kim Kyong Hui, [02:14.90]the leader's sister. [02:16.54]North Korea specialist [02:19.03]Andrei Lankov says [02:21.07]Kim Jong Il seems to want [02:23.46]the couple to help prepare [02:25.31]his young son for leadership. [02:27.30]Then, in case [02:29.84]of Kim Jong Il's sudden death, [02:32.38]he says, they will become [02:34.37]"sort of prince-regent [02:36.41]and princess-regent." [02:38.20]ANDREI LANKOV: "That is, [02:39.00]people who will be running [02:40.59]the country and will [02:41.60]be making actual decisions." [02:43.14]Yet some North Korea experts say [02:45.54]Jang Song Taek was not [02:47.63]always so trusted. [02:49.02] In two thousand four, [02:51.26]he disappeared from public [02:53.55]for a year-and-a-half. [02:55.09]Much of what experts know [02:58.83]or think they know [03:00.42]about North Korea comes [03:02.91]from North Koreans [03:04.90]who fled the country. [03:06.19]Some experts think [03:09.39]this week's political appointments [03:11.29]could create tensions [03:13.43]with North Korea's aging generals. [03:16.41]One theory is that the military [03:20.39]could object if the ruling party [03:23.23]looks for friendship [03:25.12] with South Korea to help [03:27.82]save North Korea's economy. [03:30.21]Another theory is that [03:33.20]Kim Jong Un might try to build power [03:36.54]by dismissing opponents [03:38.78]and inciting South Korea. [03:41.81]But on Thursday military officials [03:45.66]from the two Koreas held their [03:47.99]first talks in two years. [03:50.38]And on Friday the two countries [03:53.07]agreed to hold more reunions [03:55.76]of families separated [03:58.10]since the Korean War. [03:59.99]The last reunions [04:02.03]took place a year ago. [04:04.02]The talks are the latest signs [04:07.75]of improved relations [04:09.64]since a South Korean navy ship [04:12.24] sank in March. [04:13.33]Forty-six sailors died. [04:15.92]An international investigation [04:18.66]blamed North Korea [04:20.75]but it denied any involvement. [04:23.88]In Washington, [04:26.38]a Defense Department spokesman, [04:28.62]Colonel David Lapan, [04:30.51]said leaders in Pyongyang [04:33.25]could change, but American [04:35.44]objectives remain the same. [04:37.18]Those objectives are [04:39.52]for North Korea to stop [04:41.31]developing nuclear weapons [04:43.30]and to look for peace [04:45.49]and stability [04:46.69]on the Korean peninsula. [04:48.78]And that's IN THE NEWS [04:50.67]in VOA Special English. [04:53.26] I'm Doug Johnson.