I Hope It’s Not This Picture . . . .

Via Richardson at DPRK studies, there are fresh reports that the North Koreans are hanging up pictures of second son Kim Jong-Chol. Richardson has another picture that’s not so flattering, either. It’s interesting that the story is emerging as Kim Jong Il is traveling in China; however, the information has a not-so-fresh smell:

The newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, said the North Korean senior official, who defected to South Korea, had said many communist party officials were hanging the picture of Kim’s second son Kim Jong-chol alongside his father’s and the picture of Kim Il-sung, the North’s eternal president and Kim Jong-il’s late father.

. . . .

The defector, who was not identified by the paper, said the son Kim Jong-chol had been appointed to a position in North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party.

“He is receiving an education to become the successor,” the defector told the paper.

The paper did not say when the defector arrived in South Korea, nor how the defector came about the information.

Anticipating just such an occasion, I wrote a “Kim Jong Chol killer file” just last October. More here, at Wikipedia. I’ve opined that the extension of the dynasty could be depressing news for North Koreans who might have latched onto hopes for reform. Few will miss (at least, privately) the fact that First Son Kim “Disney Boy” Jong Nam was passed over, contrary to Confucian tradition.