Kim Jong-Il grooming son Kim Jong-Un for succession

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's youngest son has been assigned to a powerful national military body, in a possible sign of his being groomed as the country's next leader, a news report says.

Seoul's Yonhap news agency, quoting unnamed sources, said Kim Jong-Un, 26, would eventually rise to higher posts on the National Defense Commission, the body that supervises the nation's 1.2-million-strong army.

His exact job remains unknown, but sources said his appointment was part of "succession lessons'' aimed at grooming him as North Korea's next leader, Yonhap added.

Mr Kim has three sons: Jong-Nam, 37, and his half-brothers Jong-Chul, 27, and Jong-Un, 26.