Who else is eyeing Kim’s throne?

Earlier this year, Ken E. Gause wrote about all that we didn’t know regarding North Korea’s succession head-scratcher. And while media speculation over the outcome has been spinning since 2003, it wasn’t until yesterday that Kim Jong-Il declared his third and youngest son, Kim Jong-Un, his future replacement.

North Koreans call him “Commander Kim,” a small clue into the way Jong-Un, 26, might run the show. He enjoys a close relationship with the military, having attended Kim Il-Sung Military University before being appointed to the National Defense Commission. North Korea’s recent missile and nuclear tests, experts say, is likely an attempt by the Dear Leader to consolidate the military’s authority — and by extension, his son’s.

But, says one report, while the succession issue seems to have been resolved, the announcement is a prime opportunity for Jang Song-Taek, the Dear Leader’s brother-in-law:

Jang, who is married to Kim Jong Il’s younger sister, was purged five years ago after being seen as a threat to Kim Jong Il’s authority. But he was brought back … to get a spot on the powerful National Defense Commission. Working in Kim Jong Woon’s shadows, Jang could bide his time consolidating power and emerge as the country’s next dictator, Choi and other analysts say: “This is political power,” Choi says. “This is not something you share.”

JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images