"There is a high possibility that the North will make another attack," Won Sei-hoon, director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service told a parliamentary committee meeting in Seoul.
"Internal complaints are growing about the North's succession for a third generation, and its economic situation is worsening", he added.
The warning came a week after North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, killing four and wounding 13, placing the South Korean government under intense public pressure to take a tough line against the North.
Mr Won revealed that phone-tap intelligence had hinted at the likelihood of the attack months beforehand.
The attack came against a backdrop of economic and political instability in the North, which is reeling under UN sanctions imposed last year after its second illegal nuclear weapons test.
Kim Jong-un was made a four-star general and named vice-chairman of the country's National Defence Commission in September in a move seen as paving the way for him to take over from his father.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/8174147/South-Korea-warns-North-will-attack-again-to-bolster-succession.html
