One of the questions on the quiz today had to do with differences between the leadership of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. In my response, I touched on the fact that they both came to power very differently; Kim Il Sung really carved his own niche in North Korean society/politics by building up his image. On the other hand, Kim Jong Il was groomed to be the next leader. He later had to play down images of himself as a vibrant youth and the idea of him being careless. And even though socialists do not beleive in hereditary succession, that is exactly what is happening. So who's next? Poking around in some of last year's Blog posts, I found this article (albeit a little old now) that discusses Kim Jong Il's sons. I find it interesting that they, too, have gotten a reputation of being careless and unfit for the job as leader. It also talks about the fact that Kim Jong Il may have other children that he has not claimed, due to his so-called "voracious appetite for young women." It's really an interesting article that talks about the potential (or lack thereof) of each of the sons to become the next leader of North Korea.