N.Korea leader most active in public in 2010: report

SEOUL, (AFP) - Despite suffering a stroke in 2008 North Korea’s ailing leader Kim Jong-Il made a record number of public appearances last year, South Korea’s unification ministry said Tuesday.

Kim made his trademark “field guidance” trips 161 times in 2010, his most frequent since he officially came to power in 1994, compared with 97 times in 2008 and 159 times in 2009, the ministry said in a report.

Sixty-three of Kim’s public appearances last year were related to economic activities, the report said, and analysts said the increase was apparently designed reduce speculation about his health and eventual succession.

Kim, 68, is known to be speeding up the transfer of power to his third son, Kim Jong-Un, who his believed to be 27 years old and who accompanied his father on about one-fifth of his excursions last year.

In September Jong-Un was made a four-star general and given senior posts in the communist party. Since then, he has been frequently listed or pictured accompanying his father.

“Kim’s active appearance was to show domestic stability, which is needed to    proceed with the hereditary succession,” Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-Hyun said.

“Another intention was to show off Kim’s health, which was proven to be in serious condition when his number of public appearance plunged, as well as his efforts to deal with matters more actively,” he said.

He said Kim was also trying to show he was doing the best to revive North Korea’s moribund economy.

“But the main reasons all come down to establishing a solid succession process,” professor Kim said.

Seoul-based groups with contacts in the North have reported public scepticism about the succession, especially in light of Jong-Un’s youth and inexperience and the poor state of the economy.