South Korea viewed NKorean leader as ''aggressive, stubborn''

Seoul, Feb 21 (Yonhap) South Korean government officialsregarded North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as an aggressive andstubborn man despite the little information they had about himas he prepared for succession more than 30 years ago,declassified dossiers from the foreign ministry showed today.

According to the 1980 documents, the government madethorough assessments of the new leader-to-be following theNorth''s ruling party convention that year during which KimJong-il was given powerful posts to pave the way for his riseto power. He eventually took over the communist regime afterhis father and North Korea founder Kim Il-sung died in 1994.

Officials here said the younger Kim was "aggressive,stubborn, adventuristic and bright," and capable of carryingout his role as No. 2 in the country, the dossiers said. Kimwas assigned to four posts within the Workers'' Party acrossthe central, political and military committees.

The dossiers also kept a record of newspaper articlesfrom around the world, which reported on the North''sannouncement at the time. Japanese, US and British mediareacted with headlines such as, "The world''s firstfather-to-son power succession."North Korea is now believed to be preparing a third-generationpower transfer after Kim Jong-il''s third son, Jong-un, wasfirst unveiled to the public and given high-level politicaland military posts at another party convention in Septemberlast year. (Yonhap)