Birthday of North Korean heir apparent now a holiday

North Korea celebrated the birthday of leader Kim Jong-Il’s youngest son January 8th as a holiday, moving closer to a dynastic succession of power in the communist state, reports and analysts said. State media remained silent but the birthday of Kim Jong-Un, who turned 27 on Friday, was reported to be a national holiday by Open News for North Korea, a website and broadcaster in Seoul. Special educational sessions were held Thursday for party members and residents in Pyongyang and other cities to stress loyalty to Kim Jong-Un, it said. “The holiday is still informal but this means North Korea has internally formalised Jung-Un’s nomination as successor,” Cheong Seong-Chang of Seoul’s private Sejong Institute said.