North Korean leader denies plan to hand power to son
September 17th, 2010 - 4:06 pm ICT by IANSBeijing, Sep 17 (DPA) North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has dismissed speculation that he is to hand power to his youngest son, a news report said Friday.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao reportedly relayed the North Korean leader’s comments to former US president Jimmy Carter at a recent meeting in Beijing, the Yonhap news agency said.
Carter said the Chinese premier “surprised us by quoting the DPRK leader regarding the prospective promotion of his son, Kim Jong Un, as ‘a false rumour from the West’”, an entry on the Carter Center website said, using the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The former US president met China’s head of government Sep 6.
One week earlier North Korea’s leader had made a surprise visit to Beijing where his meetings included one with President Hun Jintao.
His visit was accompanied by speculation over the succession to the 68-year-old Kim Jong Il, who is thought to have been in ailing health since reportedly suffering a stroke in 2008.
According to unconfirmed reports, Kim’s youngest son was to be appointed to a senior post at a meeting of the Workers’ Party in early September to prepare him for the succession.
The party meeting appears to have been postponed unexpectedly.
Carter was in Pyongyang at the end of August where he arranged the freeing of an American who had been jailed for illegally entering North Korea.
Despite initial expectations, Carter did not meet Kim Jong Il, who was already on his way to China.
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