PYONGYANG: A top North Korean official confirmed Friday to broadcaster APTN that Kim Jong-il's youngest son will succeed him as the next leader of the reclusive communist nation. In the first public confirmation of the succession plan, Yang Hyong-sop, a top official in North Korea's ruling party, referred to Kim Jong-un as “the young general” during an exclusive interview with APTN. Kim Jong-un would be the third successive generation of his family to lead of the nation of 24 million. His grandfather, Kim Il-sung, founded the nation in 1948 on policy of self-reliance called “juche” and built a cult of personality around him and his son, Kim Jong-il. Meanwhile, a new report says North Korea may be moving ahead with a program to enrich uranium to make nuclear weapons. The report by the Institute for Science and International Security says Pyongyang “has moved beyond laboratory-scale work” and is now capable of building a “pilot plant” of centrifuges to enrich uranium.
