June 24 (Bloomberg) -- North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is close to transferring power to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, a senior South Korean government official said.

Circumstances suggest the elder Kim, 68, is grooming Jong Un to take control of the communist nation, said the official, who briefed reporters in Seoul on condition of anonymity. There’s no concrete evidence the son has support from the country’s elite, which could cause a power struggle, he said.

Such a situation could have a negative impact on South Korea, said the official, who briefed reporters on President Lee Myung Bak’s June 28 visit to Japan. He didn’t elaborate.

Kim Jong Il, who suffered a stroke in August, gave his youngest son control of the communist nation’s secret police, Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported today, adding to several reports that he’ll take over from his father. South Korea hasn’t been able to confirm the report, the official said.

Little is known about Jong Un. He is either 25 or 26 years old, and attended an international school in Switzerland. He and older brother Kim Jong Chol were born to Kim Jong Il’s companion Ko Young Hee. The eldest son, Jong Nam, has a different mother. He was caught trying to enter Japan in 2001 on a fake passport, saying he wanted to visit Disneyland.

Kim Jong Il succeeded his father, North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung, as leader in 1994, making the impoverished country the world’s only hereditary Stalinist state.

Nuclear Test

North Korea’s May 25 nuclear test and subsequent missile launches are likely linked to the succession issue and may show Kim is trying to shore up support for his son, the South Korean official said. Kim Jong Il had broad support to take over from his father, the official said.

North Korea’s official news agency today published a report alleging that U.S. “imperialists” are trying to provoke a second Korean war, more than 50 years after the first one.

If war breaks out again, North Korea will “wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all and achieve the cause of national reunification without fail,” according to the report.

Lee and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will discuss the possibility of a five-way consultation with the U.S., China and Russia on North Korea, the official said. The meeting would serve as a follow-up to the United Nations Security Council’s sanctions on North Korea on June 12, he said.

Kim’s government vowed to never return to international talks on dismantling its nuclear program last month and kicked UN inspectors out of the country. The Security Council’s Resolution 1874 punishes North Korea by restricting financial transactions and attempting to curb its ability to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.

A U.S. navy ship is tracking a North Korean vessel suspected of carrying illicit weapons.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sangim Han in Seoul at sihan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 24, 2009 09:21 EDT