THIS IS THE first official public photograph of Kim Jong-un: the man almost certain to become the next leader of North Korea.

The youngest son of current leader Kim Jong-un, who is either 26 or 27, was earlier this week appointed an army general and was given a senior position within the ruling Workers Party of Korea – almost guaranteeing him the country’s senior roles once his father, reported to be in ailing health, steps down.

The image of the leader-to-be was part of a massive photograph of over 200 of the country’s senior leaders, released by state media to mark the end of the Workers Party Congress, in which the Swiss-educated man was sat just two seats away from his father.

The only other known image of the youngest of Jong-il’s three sons dates from his teenage years, when he is reported to have studied at an English-language school in Switzerland under a pseudonym.

The son is understood to share his father’s love of film – naming Jean Claude van Damme as a favourite – and became the favourite to take over the country after the elder of his two brothers, Jong-nam, was intercepted when trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in order to visit Disneyland Tokyo.

The memoirs of Jong-il’s former sushi chef said that the middle son, Jong-chui, is derided by his father as being “like a little girl” in temperament.

His ascent to power may still be some time, however, with the congress re-electing his 69-year-old father as the party’s general secretary. Jong-il has held power as ‘Supreme Leader’ since the death of his own father, Il-sung, in July 1994.

Il-sung remains the country’s head of state as ‘Eternal President’, while Jong-il is the ‘Supreme Leader’. Jong-un was given the title of ‘Brilliant Comrade’ earlier in the month.