BEIJING -- When he visited South Korea a few years ago, Jang Song-taek was sometimes seen in his pajamas, wandering the hallways of his hotel, always followed by an entourage of obsequious underlings.When he overslept one morning, nobody in the North Korean delegation dared to knock on his door. Instead, they begged a South Korean to rouse him from his slumber.The eccentric Jang -- still a mystery to the West -- may now be the most powerful man in the Hermit Kingdom. The 62-year-old brother-in-law of Kim Jong-Il is said to be running the day-to-day affairs of North Korea after Kim reportedly suffered a serious illness and perhaps a series of debilitating strokes.North Korea continues to deny that Kim is ill. But when the secretive regime released photos of its long-time dictator in an attempt to dispel the rumors of his illness, the photos appeared to be faked. A close analysis of the images suggested that an old photo of Kim had been superimposed on top of a recent photo of a military unit.There are persistent reports of a leadership vacuum or looming regime change in North Korea, which could lead to political chaos.The fear of political turmoil is apparently the main reason for the recent closing of North Korea's border with China and the deployment of Chinese troops to the border zone. Pyongyang has also announced that it will close its borders with South Korea next month, leaving the country even more isolated.Known as the Dear Leader in the fawning North Korean media, Kim may have suffered a stroke in August and a second stroke in October, according to reports in South Korea and Japan quoting U.S. intelligence sources.Kim has never designated an official successor. His three sons are seen as too young or too error-prone. His eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was detained at Tokyo's airport for several days after he tried to sneak into Japan, claiming to be visiting Disneyland.In the absence of any official heir, Jang is seen as the likeliest successor and possibly already the behind-the-scenes power. One report said he has consolidated his power by gaining control of the North Korean domestic security agencies.Jang, educated in Moscow and Pyongyang, is a technocrat who married Kim's youngest sister in 1972. He swiftly climbed to the higher levels of the ruling Workers' Party but has twice fallen out of favor. In 1978, accused of abusing his power, he was severely reprimanded and ordered to work as a factory foreman so that he would be "re-educated." In his two years of hardship at the factory, he reportedly suffered burns.When he was allowed back into power, he rose quickly to become the second-highest ranking official in the government. By 2000, when Kim visited Seoul for a historic summit, witnesses at the farewell banquet said Jang was the only North Korean who could approach the Dear Leader without being summoned.Some analysts say that North Korea will create a collective leadership to replace Kim, rather than relying on a single charismatic autocrat. But in the North Korean political system, blood ties are still considered the most crucial factor, and Jang could become the first among equals.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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