Kim Jong-il names son as successor

With the news that he has been formally anointed as the chosen successor to Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator's third son Kim Jong-un may feel that he has been handed something of a poisoned chalice.

His 67-year-old father's sabre-rattling over the last two weeks, which have seen two nuclear devices tested and ballistic missiles detonated over Japan, has brought the region to the brink of conflict and threatens the future of the closed communist state.

News of the succession came from South Korean media, who note that the country's Worker's Party and parliament have been notified of the move. Kim Jong-il, who is said to have suffered a stroke last year and looks increasingly frail in approved North Korean state TV footage, has moved to quell instability in the ruling echelons of the hermit state.

It's believed that the announcement, and the recent escalation of hostilities with the outside world in general, is a sign that Kim Jong-il is attempting to regain the initiative as rival factions jockey for position as the Dear Leader ails.

If Jong-il dies soon, whoever takes over from him will perhaps not relish the country's current diplomatic status. Aid from the rich South has been stopped and even China - a staunch ally until the recent nuclear tests - is believed to have frozen relations with North Korea.

Kim Jong-un however is widely seen as the strongest candidate of the three sons

Jong-un, who is believed to be 25, is the younger of two sons of the North Korean leader's third wife, Ko Yong-hi, a professional dancer who died in 2004. Jong-un, his brother Kim Jong-chul, 28, and their older half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, all attended exclusive boarding schools in Switzerland.

While Confucian custom would hold that Jong-nam, 37 or 38, should be first in line for the succession, he has blotted his copybook after being arrested in 2001 in Japan on a trip to visit Tokyo Disneyland with his wife. His dissolute habit of visiting the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau also appears to be counting against him.

Kim Jong-un however is widely seen as the strongest candidate of the three sons. He is a keen basketball player, who took no prisoners on the court and who would ruthlessly analyse his own and others' performances after games finished.

Kenji Fujimoto, a former sushi chef to Kim Jong-il, told the Times that Jong-un possessed "inner strength. If power is to be handed over then Jong-un is the best for it," Mr Fujimoto continued. "He has superb physical gifts, is a big drinker and never admits defeat." The West has been warned.