By Son Key-young
Staff Reporter
(69) With an internal process for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's official succession kicking off Sunday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman quoted a North Korean diplomat based in an Asian country as saying Kim would be enthroned as general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party on Oct. 10.
In a meeting of party representatives in the province of Pyongan-namdo, participants have unanimously adopted a resolution to nominate Kim Jong-il as general secretary, according to the monitoring of North Korean media here.
(70)Vice President Li Jong-ok and the Workers' Party's chapter office chief So Yun-sok presided over the rally, which is regarded as the first public step indicating Kim's succession is imminent.
``By making an important decision regarding the nomination of Comrade Kim Jong-il as the party's general secretary, this party representatives' meeting will become a historic occasion to pave the road for the completion of Kim Il-sung's revolutionary tasks,'' the local party head told the meeting.
(71)Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, citing a report by a South Korean mission in Asia, said a North Korean diplomat based there told his host country's government Kim would officially take over the party leadership on the day when the Communist party was founded. However, the spokesman refused to reveal where the North Korean diplomat is based.
Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-ha, meeting reporters before leaving for the United Nations, also said he received reports from many overseas South Korean missions that some local offices of the Workers' Party had been electing representatives for the succession-related events.
(72)``If everything in North Korea becomes normal, it will be beneficial to us because North Korea's situation will become more stable,'' Yoo said.
Noting that there is no indication Kim would be elected state president, Yoo said there is the possibility the publicity-shy leader would nominate his man as president.
Kim's official succession, which has become one of the most widely debated topics since his father Kim Il-sung's death in July 1994, is expected to become a reality with the conclusion of the three-year mourning period.
(73)Analysts here said North Korea's bankrupt economy and aggravating food shortages have prevented the junior Kim from succeeding to his father's two official posts, the party's general secretary and state president.
So far, Kim Jong-il's major official post is supreme commander of the North Korean military as chairman of the party's central military committee.
(74)``It is unclear when Kim Jong-il would take over the state presidency because the ongoing process is designed only to pick the party's general secretary,'' a senior analyst of the National Unification Ministry said.
The analyst said that the provincial party representatives' meeting is a key step before a plenary meeting of party representatives from across the country will be convened to pick the general secretary.
(75) ``The event in the provincial area is also designed to create a festive mood across North Korea before Kim Jong-il's official succession,'' he said.
However, the official said North Korea is unlikely to introduce reforms following Kim's succession because he has virtually ruled over the nation during the past several decades.
(76)Although the survival of the North Korean regime has been widely questioned, Pyongyang has still firmly maintained the principle of ``self-reliance under Kim Jong-il's leadership.''
``North Korea is likely to choose to convene a party representatives' meeting rather than the party's national convention because it is too costly under the current budget situation facing North Korea,'' he said.
(77)In the past, the late president Kim Il-sung was elected in the party's national convention, which also became a turning point of North Korea's major policy changes.
``At the moment, North Korea is not in a position to introduce new political and economic policy initiatives, which will also make it impossible to convene the party's national convention,'' he said. The party's convention was held in October 1980 for the last time.