This is interesting, first a powerful member of the North Korean regime elite dies in a car accident and now Kim Jong-il attends a rare session of parliament and announces changes:

Jang Song-thaek

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il attended the communist state’s rare second parliamentary session on Monday, official media reported, promoting his brother-in-law to a higher post as the country apparently moves to engineer a hereditary power succession.

He was absent from the last session of the rubber-stamp Supreme People’s Assembly on April 9. The official Korean Central News Agency said Jang Song-thaek, who heads a Workers’ Party department, became a vice head of the National Defense Commission, the highest seat of power.

The promotion may suggest Kim, 68, is moving forward with efforts to transfer his power to his third son, Jong-un. The report added that Choe Yong-rim, chief secretary of the Pyongyang City Committee of the Workers’ Party, also replaced Kim Yong-il, premier of the Cabinet.  [Yonhap News]

ROK Drop readers may remember Jang’s name from when he was reported to be purged from the North Korean government in 2005 to only return to power last year as a part of a power struggle within North Korea.  It appears that Jang Sung-taek appears to have won this power struggle with him being promoted to such a powerful position.

You can see a who’s who of North Korea’s military high command here.