SEOUL, KOREA: A former high-ranking North Korean official predicted that after Kim Jong-il's death, North Korea is likely to be dominated by the ruling Workers' Party, lawmakers said Tuesday (16 Sept).

Earlier this month, Hwang Jang-yup, former secretary of the North Korean Workers' Party who defected in 1997, told Grand National Party legislators that the party, not the military, would seize power of the impoverished Stalinist state in the case of Kim's death.

Hwang said the possibility of the military taking over the North was unlikely because it has been under Kim's control for a long period.

"Hwang said Kim Jong-il has tightly controlled all military personnel of the brigade commander level and above, and these people are still being controlled and apparently have no real complaints toward their leader and his posthumous scheme," GNP lawmaker Kim Dong-seong quoted Hwang as saying.

Therefore, the post-Kim Jong-il regime is unlikely to be one controlled by the military, a forecast that conflicts with those given by other North Korean and security experts who expect much confusion in the North rising from power struggles between the military and party.

Kim Jong-il is general secretary of the Workers' Party, which has ruled since North Korea was first founded under Kim's father Kim Il-sung.

The former secretary also predicted that Kim Jeong-nam, the North Korean leader's eldest son, would be the most likely to succeed the Pyongyang empire.

During separate talks with former National Assembly chairman Park Gwan-yong and some key North Korean officials, Hwang said the younger Kim would be the heir as he is under the sponsorship of both the Chinese and of leading North Korean figures such as Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law Jang Seong-taek.

Jang is the Workers' Party administrative executive who was temporarily suspended from duty in 2004 for engaging in factional activities but remained at the centre of power.

He managed to redeem himself and subsequently became one of North Korea's most significant figures.

Hwang also ruled out the possibility of anarchism or other forms of confusion or revolt in the North after Kim Jong-il's death, as his aides have already put in place a process for succeeding the leadership.

China would play a role in preventing any form of social unrest in the aftermath of the North Korean leader's death, the former secretary said. Talking about how to achieve reunification, Hwang said the North can be persuaded to unify only via methods undertaken by the Chinese government of "gradual reforms."

Hwang underscored that such a scenario would be possible only after Kim Jong-il's death. Regarding the July shooting of a South Korean tourist in the North Korean resort of Mount Geumgang, Hwang said the North appears to have acted according to army protocol.

Park Wang-ja, 53, was shot dead for venturing into an off-limits section of the resort. (By Kim JI-HYUN/ The Korea Herald/ ANN)