SEOUL - NORTH Korea has been churning out portraits of leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son as the communist state moves closer to a dynastic succession, an anti-Pyongyang activist said on Saturday.
Lee Young Hwa, head of the Tokyo-based Rescue North Korean People Urgent Action Network (Renk), told Yonhap news agency that the North is preparing to distribute Kim Jong Un's portraits as it readies to present him publicly as a successor.
'We've received information that the North has prepared Kim Jong Un's portraits en masse,' Mr Lee told Yonhap. 'The North is apparently in a hurry to declare Kim Jong Un as the successor,' he said.
He said the North might distribute the portraits in time for the birthday of North Korea's deceased founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.
Portraits of Kim Il Sung and current leader Kim Jong Il, which decorate the walls of every classroom, government building, workplace and home, are the most visible signs of the personality cult around the father and the son.
South Korea's spy agency director Won Se Hoon reportedly told the National Assembly's intelligence committee last month that the North was spreading songs aimed at encouraging loyalty to Kim Jong Un. Succession speculation has intensified since Kim senior, 67, suffered a stroke in Aug 2008. Widespread reports say he has chosen Jong Un to inherit power. -- AFP
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