North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son — a 26-year-old who reportedly enjoys skiing, and studied English, German and French at a Swiss boarding school — was named North Korea's next leader in an announcement to top leaders of the ruling party, government and military, South Korean newspapers said June 2.

The announcement naming Kim Jong Un as leader was sent after the nation's May 25 nuclear test, the Hankook Ilbo newspaper reported, citing unnamed members of South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee briefed by the South Korean spy agency.

The reports about a new leader — the nation's third — come at a time of mounting tensions over North Korea's April 5 rocket launch and the May 25 underground nuclear test, and indications that the North may be preparing to test-fire a long-range missile.

Analysts have suspected the saber rattling is part of a campaign to build unity and support for a leader to replace 67-year-old Kim Jong Il, who reportedly suffered a stroke last August. Kim has three sons but had not publicly named a successor.