N.Koreans 'Worried Their Next Leader Will Be Worse'

North Koreans are well aware that Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un has been nominated as his father's successor and worry that his rule would be even harsher than Kim senior's, Radio Free Asia said Sunday quoting a North Korean source.

North Koreans believe Kim junior has an even more autocratic nature than his father, the source said.

Kim Jong-il banned all talk of his succession in 2006, but after suffering a stroke last year, he felt compelled to name on. The most important criterion for selection was whether children borne by wives other than Jong-un's mother would be in danger from the new leader, the source claimed.

RFA quoted Ken Gause, the director of the Center for Naval Analyses, as saying, "There are rumors that he has a very autocratic nature, very foul temper, but again those rumors, how much do we actually know about that?"

If Kim Jong-un succeeds to his father, he will find it difficult to run the country as autocratically as his father given the sway held by highly experienced senior officials in the military and the party, Gause predicted.