A year after Kim Jong-un made his public debut, as North Korea’s leader-in-waiting, party members acknowledging the new leader, have become a staple of North Korea’s propagandist media, a crucial tool for the country’s leader, Kim Jong-il, to elevate his son as his successor.
However, despite the attempts to emulate his father, stark differences remain between the two. Kim Jong-il had fought for his inheritance as much as his father bestowed it upon him.
The new leader terrorized the older elite and won their grudging respect in a process of consolidating absolute power that lasted decades. By comparison, Kim Jong-un was inexperienced and thrust onto a fast track whipped together after his father suffered a stroke in 2008.
The worst thing for many analysts, especially those in the US and South Korea, since the fall of the USSR, North Korea has been watched for any signs of failure or collapse. Yet this recent transfer of power may signify that the ailing dictatorship could be more resilient that expected.
(아주경제 송지영 기자)
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