OMF Blog

14. Kim Jong-Il’s Possible Successor

NK Blog - Wednesday 09 December 2009

If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will always be secure. Proverbs 29:14

The present leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Il, was selected and trained by his father, Kim Il-Sung, to be his successor. It appears that Kim Jong-Il is doing the same. A magazine connected with a Japanese newspaper announced in September 2005 that it appears the successor will be one of his sons, Kim Jong-Chul, born in 1981.28 For many years people wondered if the successor would be Kim Jong-Nam, the firstborn son of Kim Jong-Il. In 2001, though, Jong-Nam dropped from the North Korean spotlight. (29) Probably different internal government leaders also helped “sway the vote” to Kim Jong-Chul for various reasons.

One of the first signs that Kim Jong-Chul would be the next leader was the lifting up of his mother as a loyal subject to the “Supreme Commander,” Kim Jong-Il, in 2003. This was also done to Kim Jong-Il’s mother right before he was chosen as successor. (30)

Kim Jong-Chul has been being lifted up throughout the North Korean government and referred to as “Commander” — a title second only to Kim Jong-Il’s title of Supreme Commander. It is reported that Kim Jong-Chul studied at an international school in Switzerland and is a fan of basketball — especially the U.S. NBA (National Basketball Association)! (31) If the son is only in his 20s, Kim Jong-Il has plenty of time, humanly speaking, to train the young man to be like him and to be the leader he wants him to be.

  • Praise God for the exposure that Kim Jong-Chul has had to outside values and concepts, including freedom, fairness and morals.
  • Pray that the man of God’s choosing would become the next leader of North Korea and that he would be the kind of leader God wants him to be.
  • Pray that God would draw Kim Jong-Chul to himself and that Kim Jong-Chul would seek God.