Rise of Kim Jong-il's son gives birth to cult legend

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To fill the shoes of a man North Koreans have been taught is their infallible Dear Leader, you need a myth of your own. For Kim Jong-un, the youngest son and heir apparent to Kim Jong-il, the mythmaking starts now.

With his father in ill health, Kim Jong-un has been put on a path to take over the world's most isolated and unpredictable state, with the regime's KCNA news agency announcing that the twentysomething with no military background had been made a four-star general. After nearly two years of rumours, it was the first time the younger Mr. Kim has been given an official role, and the clearest sign yet that the family plans to hold onto power for a third generation.

The news of Kim Jong-un's new rank followed reports in South Korean and Japanese news media that he had been made an official military delegate to the extraordinary conference of the ruling Workers' Party now under way in Pyongyang. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted a North Korean source who said that after the dictator's son was made a military delegate to the party congress, the Workers' Party Central Committee declared him "the only successor to leader Kim Jong-il."

Kim Jong-un is now on a path to power very similar to the one his own father was put on at the last major Workers' Party gathering in 1980, when he emerged as the anointed successor to North Korea's founder, Kim il-Sung.

In the early days of his apprenticeship, the then 32-year-old Kim Jong-il was referred to in official publications as the "Party Centre." With North Korea's military since having eclipsed the Workers' Party in importance, Pyongyang's propagandists are now hailing Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be 26 or 27 years old, as the "Young General."

Inheriting power in North Korea is far more complex than gaining rank and title. The bizarre cult of personality that surrounds both Kim Jong-il and his father requires that new legends be written about the leader-to-be.

Every North Korean has heard, for instance, how Kim Jong-il's birth at the foot of sacred Mount Baekdu was foretold by a swallow and heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow and a new star in the sky. Kim il-Sung, meanwhile, has been made into a deity, still the country's president and "eternal leader" despite his death in 1994.

There have been reports of a song already having been written about the "Brilliant Comrade" Kim Jong-un, and recent defectors say the regime has also started spreading tales of his military prowess. Kim Jong-il will remain in charge as North Koreans are taught to revere his son.

"Kim Jong-il is not planning to give up his power immediately. In the North Korean personality cult, the leader is considered so perfect that the idea of him ceding power while still alive is unthinkable. So it would be a gradual transfer," said Brian Myers, an expert on North Korea at Dongseo University in South Korea. "You had various stages in Kim Jong-il's ascension to power, and I think we'll see that with this kid as well. … In the next few years, I expect to see him elected from one post to another."

Little is known about the heir apparent other than that he attended school in Switzerland, where he showed a fondness for basketball and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies. There are no known photos of Kim Jong-un as an adult.

Despite his obscurity, Prof. Myers said that no one outside the Kim family would be able to succeed Kim Jong-il without instigating a power struggle. He said it would also be difficult to transfer the godlike aura that surrounds the Dear Leader to anyone but one of Kim Jong-il's sons. Kim Jong-un is believed to have won his father's favour because his older brother, Kim Jong-chul, was seen as too effeminate and a problem gambler.

Of course, the big difference between this transfer of power and the one that began in 1980 is that Kim Jong-il may not have 14 years to groom his son. The succession plan is believed to have been hastened by a stroke the dictator suffered in 2008. The 68-year-old has looked frail and much thinner at public appearances since then.

Because of Kim Jong-il's health problems, and his son's young age and lack of experience, many expect Mr. Kim to appoint another one of his relatives – most likely his uncle, Jang Song-thaek – to serve as regent while Kim Jong-un grows into the role.

Kim Jong-il's poor health, and the apparent effort to secure a succession plan, come at a time of high tension on the Korean Peninsula following the sinking of a South Korean warship earlier this year. Seoul alleges the ship was struck by a North Korean torpedo.

North Korea also faces international sanctions because of its nuclear weapons program, and six-party talks aimed at disarming the regime have been suspended since North Korea carried out a nuclear test, its second, in May of 2009.