Hu Jintao blesses the succession to Kim Jong-il
Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has seemingly received Chinese support for his decision to appoint as his heir and successor, his third son Kim Jong-un, thereby ensuring a third generation of Kim in power in North Korea. This is according to the South Korean press, which claims that the North Korean Workers' Party Congress - which must ratify the succession – is due to start today.
Some sources in the North, quoted by Seoul intelligence, argue that the Congress - apparently delayed due to the precarious health of the "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il – was postponed pending the approval of Beijing , which arrived yesterday.
Party delegates have come from all over the country to Pyongyang, arriving in the capital late yesterday because of floods in North Korea. The source also denied reports of the Kim’s illness, attributing the delay to Beijing’s response and the effects of bad weather.
The North Korean leader presented his third child to Chinese President Hu Jintao during the surprise visit to China made in late August. According to the Chosun Ilbo, a major newspaper in Seoul, Kim Jong-un in China has been constantly escorted by three personal bodyguards, but traveled in a separate car to be confused with the large following of people who accompanied the North Korean dictator .
The meeting of father and son with Chinese President took place August 27 in the northeastern city of Changchun, during a dinner in the hotel chosen for Kim Jong-il’s stay. The choice of location is not accidental, since in this very city the "eternal president" of North Korea Kim Il Sung spent years in study.
The rumours reported by the Chosun Ilbo also speak of a particularly lively and informal evening, during which North Korean leader, having presented his son to Hu and some senior officials in Beijing, drank more than one bottle of Chinese "Maotai” liquor.
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