PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Il may be grooming his son, Kim Jong Chul, born to his first wife, as his successor, says a Japanese professor.
In a series of articles on the unpredictable North Korean leader, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun quoted Professor Hajime Izumi of Shizuoka University as saying Kim Jong Chul is now a university student.
"Kim may want Kim Jong Chul, now a university student, to work for the party after his graduation this year and follow in his footsteps in the future," Izumi said.
The mother of Kim Jong Chul is believed to be Ko Yong Hui, who now lives with Kim. Ko also gave birth to Kim Jong Woon, about whom little is known.
Ko was born in Osaka, Japan in 1953 to a Korean professional wrestler residing in Japan. She returned home in the 1960s with her family.
In 1972, she became a dancer and may have met Kim at one of her performances.
