US national security adviser says Kim Jong Il appears in charge in North Korea

September 30th, 2009 Gen: IEDs are NKorea's latest weaponWASHINGTON — Homemade bombs known as IEDs appear to be North Korea's latest weapon in its decades-long conflict with South Korea, the U.S. commander in Seoul said Tuesday.

August 4th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has granted a special pardon to two American journalists held for illegally entering North Korea on a reporting tour, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported early Wednesday. The agency quoted North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency as the source.

July 9th, 2009 Kim Jong Il appearance spurs fresh health concernsSEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's latest public appearance is spurring fresh speculation that his health might be worsening, almost a year after he reportedly suffered a stroke. The 67-year-old Kim was markedly thinner and had less hair in TV footage Wednesday of the North's annual state memorial for his late father and the country's founding leader, Kim Il Sung.

July 5th, 2009 Report says NKorea's Kim convalescing by the seaSEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been living at an east coast villa since mid-May and is likely convalescing after reportedly suffering a stroke last year, a newspaper said Sunday citing U.S. and South Korean intelligence.

June 24th, 2009 Report: Kim Jong Il puts son as head of spy agencySEOUL, South Korea — The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has taken charge at the country's spy agency to prepare him to inherit the leadership of the communist nation from his father, a news report said Wednesday. Kim told senior officials of the State Security Department in March to "uphold" his 26-year-old third son, Kim Jong Un, as head of the agency, while doling out foreign-made luxury cars to the officials as gifts, Seoul's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.

June 24th, 2009 Report: NKorea's Kim using gifts to win supportSEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il doled out foreign-made cars to senior intelligence officials to ensure their loyalty to his youngest son when he put the 26-year-old in charge of the country's powerful spy agency, a report said Wednesday. The appointment is part of Kim's plan to anoint the son, Kim Jong Un, as North Korea's future leader, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unidentified source.

June 16th, 2009 TOKYO - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's third son, Kim Jong Un, made a secret visit to Beijing last week to inform Chinese leaders that his father had chosen him as his successor, a leading Japanese daily said Tuesday. The younger Kim confirmed to Chinese President Hu Jintao that Kim Jong Il wanted him to take over as North Korea's supreme leader, Japan's Asahi Shimbun quoted Chinese and North Korean sources as saying.

June 14th, 2009 NKorea warns of nuclear war amid rising tensionsSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's president ordered his top security officials Sunday to deal "resolutely and squarely" with new North Korean warnings of a nuclear war on the eve of his U.S. visit. In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden said "God only knows" what North Korea wants from the latest showdown.

June 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - North Korea is launching missiles, testing nuclear devices and whipping up global tension so that its ailing supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, can create conditions for a "hereditary transfer of power," according to a top South Korean defence official. Many analysts say that the elder Kim, who is 67 and suffered a stroke last summer, is trying to distract North Koreans from the collapsed economy and continuing food shortages to make a security-based case for giving power to his young son.

June 2nd, 2009 SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has designated his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his successor, South Korean lawmakers were told Tuesday. Members of South Korea's National Assembly and intelligence community were informed by the government of "such ongoings (of succession), and that they (the North Koreans) make loyalty pledges to Kim Jong Un", opposition lawmaker Park Jie Won was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

June 1st, 2009 NKorea appears to be testing long-range missileMANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says North Korea appears to be working on a long-range missile but it's not clear yet what they plan to do with it. At a Manila news conference Monday with Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C.

April 26th, 2009 Report: Kim Jong Il's 3rd son assigned to postSEOUL, South Korea — The third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been assigned to the country's all-powerful National Defense Commission, a possible sign that he is being groomed as his father's successor, a news report said Sunday. Kim, who has ruled the nuclear-armed North with absolute authority since his father's death in 1994, has three known sons by two women but has not publicly anointed any of them as his successor.

April 26th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea's communist leader Kim Jong-il has promoted his youngest son to a key post, in a possible sign of grooming him as a successor, South Korean media reports said Sunday. The secretive family dynasty has ruled the nuclear-armed north of the peninsula since 1948, with increasing speculation at the health of the 67-year old Kim Jong-il, who is believed to have suffered a stroke.

April 6th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea said on Monday that its leader Kim Jong-il was present at Sunday's controversial rocket launch and praised scientists after watching a satellite propelled into orbit. he official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Kim was briefed on preparations for the launch before observing the entire process from the command centre.

April 5th, 2009 LONDON - The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting after North Korea defiantly carried out a provocative long-range missile rocket launch on Sunday that passed over Japan. Both the US State Department and the Japanese Government have issued stark statements condemning the blast-off.