SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  The youngest son of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has reportedly been named to the powerful National Defense Commission, an appointment indicating that Mr. Kim’s son is being groomed to take power one day, political analysts said Sunday.

The question of who will become the next leader of North Korea has been the focus of intense attention in the news media and foreign capitals since Mr. Kim, 67, was reported to have had a stroke last summer.

Mr. Kim, who has ruled the North with absolute authority since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994, has three known sons by two women but has not publicly anointed an heir.

On Sunday, the Yonhap news agency of South Korea reported that Mr. Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong-un, 26, was assigned to a low-level post at the defense commission several days before North Korea’s rubber-stamp Parliament reappointed Kim Jong-il as the commission’s chairman on April 9.