| I'll note it's not a very far drop from that particular apple tree. |
On Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported Kim's youngest son, 26-year-old Kim Jong Un, took up a low-level post at the defense commission, several days before the country's rubber-stamp Parliament reappointed the senior Kim as the commission's chairman on April 9.
Under the North's Constitution, the defense commission is the top government body and Kim Jong Il has ruled the country in his capacity as its chairman. He also is the top official in the powerful Workers' Party and supreme army commander.
At this month's closely watched parliamentary session, Kim Jong Il looked thinner and grayer and was limping slightly.
It was Kim's first major public appearance since his reported stroke but proved that he remains in charge of the communist North.
Yonhap, citing unidentified sources it says are privy to North Korean affairs, reported the third son is expected to assume the defense commission's higher-level posts step by step in preparation to succeed his father.
The National Intelligence Service - South Korea's main spy agency - said it was aware of the Yonhap report but could not confirm it.
Little is known about Kim Jong Un except that he studied at the International School of Bern in Switzerland. Kim Jong Il's former sushi chef says in a 2003 memoir that the son looks and acts just like his father and is the leader's favorite.