Generation change will not affect N.Korea-China ties: Kim

S.Korea begins national security review
Seoul (AFP) May 9, 2010 - South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Sunday began an overhaul of national security after the mysterious sinking of a warship near the border with North Korea in March, his office said. Lee created a 15-member Commission for National Security Review -- consisting of 10 retired generals and five civilians -- tasked with assessing outside threats and revamping the country's security system, it said. He also named Lee Hee-Won, a former deputy commander of the US-South Korean combined forces, as his special advisor for national security.

President Lee last week pledged to overhaul the nation's security system, which came under scrutiny after the 1,200-ton warship Cheonan sank near the disputed sea border with North Korea in the Yellow Sea on March 26. The area where the ship went down was the scene of deadly naval clashes between the two Koreas in 1999 and 2002 and of a firefight last November that left a North Korean patrol boat in flames. Investigators have said a powerful external blast tore the ship in two -- apparently limiting the possible causes to a torpedo or a mine. President Lee hinted last Tuesday that North Korea was involved in the sinking. He promised a "resolute" response when the cause is established following the probe, and his defence minister has vowed to retaliate.

North Korea has denied responsibility for the sinking. Seoul's Yonhap news agency last week quoted an unidentified official as saying that traces of a high explosive known as RDX and widely used in torpedoes had been found on the wreckage of the salvaged warship. The defence ministry denied the report. The South has said it would probably take the issue to the UN Security Council after completing the investigation. Seoul has said that results of the probe will be discussed with China, a veto-wielding Council member and ally of Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il made a five-day trip to China to hold talks with Beijing leaders, including President Hu Jintao, last week.

by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) May 8, 2010
North Korea's Kim Jong-Il said ties with China will be unchanged by the "replacement of one generation by a new one," KCNA said Saturday, amid reports he is paving the way for his son to take power.

The reclusive leader, who himself inherited control of the nation from his father Kim Il-Sung, is reportedly grooming his third son, Jong-Un, as leader of the secretive communist state.

"The long-standing DPRK (North Korea)-China friendship will remain unchanged despite the passage of time and the replacement of one generation by a new one as it stood tempest and test of history," he said.

Kim's remarks, reported by the state news agency on Saturday, were apparently made during a rare visit to China this week.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, speaking at a state dinner hosted in Kim's honour, said the traditional friendship is an asset that both countries have a historic responsibility to maintain and improve "along with the passage of time and convey it down through generations," KCNA reported.

Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of South Korea's Dongguk University said expressions of bilateral friendship lasting for generations were commonly used at summits between the two countries.

"However, it is noteworthy that this rhetoric was repeated at a time when the North is believed to be raising Jong-Un as an heir," he told AFP.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the North Koreans, during the visit, briefed the Chinese side on their plan for a possible succession by the son and Chinese people listened to them carefully."

Succession speculation has intensified since Kim senior, 67, suffered a stroke in August 2008. Widespread reports say he has chosen Jong-Un to inherit power.

Information is scant about Jong-Un, the second son of Kim Jong-Il's third wife Ko Yong-Hee. Some reports say Jong-Un, born in 1983, attended an international school in the Swiss city of Berne under a pseudonym.

Kenji Fujimoto, a former personal chef to Kim Jong-Il, has described the son as "a chip off the old block" who closely resembles his father physically and in terms of personality.

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North Korea's Kim committed to disarmament talks: KCNA
Seoul (AFP) May 8, 2010
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il said the isolated state remains committed to nuclear disarmament, Pyongyang's official media reported Saturday, a year after quitting talks on its atomic arsenal. During a visit this week to Beijing, he also said ties with China will be unchanged by the "replacement of one generation by a new one," amid reports he is paving the way for his son to take control ... read more

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