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SEOUL, South Korea-North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il is officially back on center stage following a reported stroke, but has promoted a trusted in-law to the spotlight in the clearest sign yet he is making preparations for an eventual successor, analysts said Friday.Though looking thinner and grayer, and limping slightly, Kim's appearance at the closely watched first session of the North's new parliament Thursday was more than enough to lay to rest any lingering doubts about his health, and prove he is in charge.Kim appointed his brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek to the all-powerful National Defense Commission, providing analysts with clues about what the future may hold for North Korea after Kim either dies or becomes incapacitated.The appointment shows Kim is trying to prepare for his eventual departure and pave the way to hand power to one of his sons, analysts said Friday, just as he himself inherited the mantle from his late father, North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung."In a system like North Korea, there is nobody else to trust but one's own flesh and blood," said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University."Jang is expected to play a decisive role in strengthening Kim's rule and as a guardian of Kim's successor."Jang, 63, is married to Kim's younger sister. He has been considered the person most likely to lead a collective leadership that would probably emerge if Kim leaves the scene, as no single person is yet believed poised to take over.Kim has three known sons with two different mothers, and Jang is believed to back Kim's youngest son, 26-year-old Jong Un, as successor.A technocrat trained in the former Soviet Union, Jang was a rising star in North Korean politics until he was summarily demoted in early 2004 in what analysts believe was a warning from Kim against gathering too much influence. But Kim rehabilitated Jang in 2006 and he has since held posts in the ruling Workers' Party.In another possible succession-related move, the Supreme People's Assembly approved a motion to amend North Korea's constitution. No details were available, but in the 1990s, a similar amendment paved the way for Kim to assume leadership from his father.Choi Jin-wook, a North Korea expert at the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification, said Jang's appointment and the constitutional revision must be "aimed at laying the groundwork for a successor as well as stabilizing his regime."The Supreme People's Assembly re-elected Kim to his post as chairman of the National Defense Commission, the North's most powerful post.PICTURE:A national meeting to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the leader Kim Jong Il's election as chairman of North Korea's National Defence Commission, Pyongyang. North Korea decided to revise its constitution at a parliamentary meeting Thursday attended by leader Kim Jong-Il, his first appearance at a major public event since a reported stroke last August.(AFP/KNCA/KNS)
By JAE-SOON CHANG--AP Writer
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