PYONGYANG (Kyodo) Pyongyang's No. 2 leader called Thursday for "fruitful relations" with the incoming administration of Yukio Hatoyama, saying ties with Tokyo will solely depend on whether Japan offers compensation for its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and how it addresses other key issues.
In an interview in Pyongyang, Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, denied foreign media reports that say top leader Kim Jong Il has already picked his third son, Kim Jong Un, as his heir apparent. "We haven't even had discussion on such an issue in our country," he said.
Suggesting there is no problem with the top leader's health, he said Kim Jong Il directs activity of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the state and military "with an abundance of energy."