Leadership hat clue to son-rise in N Korea
SEOUL: Analysts watching the leadership succession process in secretive and bitterly cold North Korea are pondering a potential new clue Kim Jong-un's furry hat.
The youngest son and heir apparent of leader Kim Jongil was seen wearing the same pricey otter fur headgear as his father during a visit to an art studio in Pyongyang reported by state media on January 23.
A clear sign of Kim Jongun's rising status "is that he now wears the top-quality fur hat reserved for Kim Jongil", said a Seoul government official quoted by Chosun Ilbo newspaper on Saturday.
The headgear designed by a foreign craftsman is a luxury only allowed to the leader, it quoted a defector, also unidentified, as saying.
"It's an unwritten rule that nobody else can wear such a hat. So if Kim Jong-Un is also wearing one, it means he has now reached almost the same status as his father," the defector said. While other senior staffers sometimes wear similar hats, they are industrial products of far inferior quality, a North Korean source was quoted as saying.
Lee Jong-Joo, a spokeswoman for South Korea's unification ministry, said Monday that efforts to "idolize" Jong-Un are under way but it was not possible to pinpoint the fur hat as a sign of his rising power. Jong-Un, believed to be 28, was made a general and given senior posts in the ruling communist party last September, confirming his status as leader-in-waiting.
The youngest son and heir apparent of leader Kim Jongil was seen wearing the same pricey otter fur headgear as his father during a visit to an art studio in Pyongyang reported by state media on January 23.
A clear sign of Kim Jongun's rising status "is that he now wears the top-quality fur hat reserved for Kim Jongil", said a Seoul government official quoted by Chosun Ilbo newspaper on Saturday.
The headgear designed by a foreign craftsman is a luxury only allowed to the leader, it quoted a defector, also unidentified, as saying.
"It's an unwritten rule that nobody else can wear such a hat. So if Kim Jong-Un is also wearing one, it means he has now reached almost the same status as his father," the defector said. While other senior staffers sometimes wear similar hats, they are industrial products of far inferior quality, a North Korean source was quoted as saying.
Lee Jong-Joo, a spokeswoman for South Korea's unification ministry, said Monday that efforts to "idolize" Jong-Un are under way but it was not possible to pinpoint the fur hat as a sign of his rising power. Jong-Un, believed to be 28, was made a general and given senior posts in the ruling communist party last September, confirming his status as leader-in-waiting.
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