NKorean leader's son is (given title) 'Brilliant Comrade'

[Tab]

Source: Associate Press

SEOUL, South Korea – The youngest son of North Korea's authoritarian leader has been given the title of "Brilliant Comrade," a newspaper reported Friday, a sign the communist regime is preparing to name him as successor to the ailing Kim Jong Il.

U.S. and South Korean intelligence authorities disclosed during a meeting this week that 26-year-old Kim Jong Un is now being referred to in the secretive regime as "Yongmyong-han Dongji," which translates roughly as "Brilliant Comrade," South Korea's mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported.

An unidentified intelligence official quoted by the newspaper said the title means the North will engineer a cult of personality for the younger Kim — much like it was done for his father and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the only two leaders North Korea has seen.

The eldest Kim founded North Korea in 1948 in the aftermath of World War II when the peninsula was divided between the Soviet Union-controlled north and the U.S.-backed south.

Kim, who was referred to as the "Great Leader," died in 1994, paving the way for the first hereditary transfer of power in a communist nation. His son, Kim Jong Il, became the "Dear Leader."

The ailing 67-year-old Kim, who reportedly suffered a stroke last year, is said to be grooming "Brilliant Comrade" Jong Un, the youngest of his three sons, to succeed him. Jong Un reportedly studied at the International School in Berne, Switzerland, in the 1990s, and is said to be proficient in English.

Grandiose titles are part of a tradition to stimulate public support in a nation where the media is tightly controlled and little information about the inner workings of the government is available. The leader is given credit for most national projects. The state media carry endless flattering reports about Kim, repeatedly referring to him with his various titles of which "Dear Leader" is the most prominent.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear

[JonQ]

1. Well he still has to win the election

they are a democracy afterall.

:sarcasm:

[David__77]

4. In a certain sense, he does have to win an "election."

There are different forces in N. Korea other than Kim. Especially in the military. This son would have to win these forces over for his ascension to leadership.

[izquierdista]

5. Emulating the U.S.

Grooming the son for leadership, and lowering the lights to make his bulb seem brighter.
Where have I seen that before?

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. Difference is, though, we named our version "Sum Dum Fuk" n/t

[WriteDown]

2. Eh...

Doesn't have the same ring to it as Dear Leader.

[Posteritatis]

12. He gets that after his father's post-mortem apotheosis (nt)

[C_U_L8R]

3. That's a good one

might use it on my business card : - )))

[Taverner]

6. Let us hope he pulls a Luis Carrero Blanco

[iandhr]

7. Maybe the Brilliant Comrade

will be just plain evil. That would be better than evil and crazy like the Dear Leader

[NBachers]

8. He gets all the good nicknames

[targetpractice]

9. Awkward Family Photo of the "Brilliant Comrade"...

I suppose the kid was chosen as successor because he alone controls the Giant Flying Robot...



From AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

Get a load of the lift shoes Dad is wearing.

[Blandocyte]

10. Effing Nepotism!

I had to *earn* my title of Brilliant Comrade.

[hatrack]

11. From "Great Leader" to "Dear Leader" to "Brilliant Comrade" . . .

Things are definitely going downhill in the Peoples' Paradise.

[derby378]

14. No "Brilliant Leader?" What gives?

These guys are breaking from their own whackjob traditions. Wow.

[NBachers]

15. How does William Conrad feel about this?