Kim Jong Un succession watch

There were a few new reports (or “rumors,” if you prefer) on the Kim Jong Un front this week. First, the South Korean media reported on Tuesday that Kim Jong Il’s presumed successor may have been “elected” to parliament last year from the numerologically significant Constituency 216:

JoongAng Ilbo also said the constituency No. 216 has a special meaning in North Korea as Kim Jong Il’s birthday falls on Feb. 16. It said the Western source spoke during a meeting Monday with journalists in Seoul. The source said the North appeared to have deliberately hid the son’s election, according to Dong-a Ilbo.

The list of North Korea’s 687 parliamentary members that state media released after the elections included the name of Kim Jong but it was not officially confirmed whether the person is the son using an alias, the paper said.

For what it’s worth, a source at South Korea’s National Intelligence Service cast doubt on the report.

Today, Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun reports that the North Korean media has begun using the code word “Party Center,” which likely refers Kim Jong Un: 

In an editorial on Wednesday about a Politburo meeting in September, the Rodong Sinmun, the organ paper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, said, “We must defend with our lives the party’s Politburo meeting attended by our Great Comrade Kim Jong Il and rally in support around the Party Center.”

The term “Party Center” first appeared in an editorial in the Rodong Shinmun in February 1974 after Kim Jong Il was anointed to succeed Kim Il Sung, and has been rarely used since the elder Kim’s death in 1994.

There are also reports that elementary school students have begun singing a song called “Footsteps” dedicated to the Dear Leader-in-Waiting.