Seoul: North Korea has been making
posters and badges with pictures of the youngest son of ailing
leader Kim Jong-Il as it builds up a personality cult around
the likely successor, a report said on Wednesday.
Kim Jong-Un is widely believed to be being groomed to
take over at the helm of the secretive communist state from
his 68-year-old father, who suffered a stroke in August 2008.
A state art studio has been making portraits and
badges bearing pictures of the son, possibly as part of
preparations for the death of Jong-Il, the Seoul-based Open
Radio for North Korea reported.
Analysts said that if confirmed, this would be the
first time North Korea has used up-to-date images of Jong-Un,
who is believed to be 27.
"I have never heard of North Korea producing badges
for Kim Jong-Un before," Dongguk University professor Kim
Yong-Hyun told AFP.
Some analysts say the North will probably designate
Jong-Un as his father's political heir when it convenes a rare
meeting of key communist party delegates in September.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 18:50