North Korea displays military might and heir apparent

SECRETIVE North Korea put its leader-in-waiting on display at a massive military parade in Pyongyang, showcasing the youngest son of current ruler Kim Jong-Il in a rare live television broadcast.

Kim Jong-Un, believed aged about 27, stood near his father at the parade, applauding and saluting as thousands of goose-stepping troops marched past along with tanks and trucks carrying missiles and other weaponry.

The parade, one of the largest for years in the hardline communist state, gave many North Koreans their first extensive look at the young heir apparent.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which monitors Pyongyang’s media, said it was the first ever live broadcast of a military parade in the North.

Jong-Un was catapulted into the limelight in late September with promotions to four-star general and to powerful ruling party posts.

The impoverished but nuclear-armed nation ostensibly staged yesterday’s event to mark the party’s 65thanniversary, but it seemed designed to highlight the start of a second dynastic succession process.

Kim Jong-Il took over from his own father and founding president Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994.

The leader suffered a stroke two years ago and has since apparently speeded up plans to put an eventual successor in place, even though he does not appear in a hurry to step down.

The Swiss-educated Jong-Un remains a mystery to the outside world. Until late September his name had never been carried by official media nor had a photo of the chubby youth been issued.

The North is locked in a dispute with the West over its nuclear weapons and is struggling to revive its crumbling command economy and feed its 24 million people.

Military chief of staff Ri Yong-Ho, in a speech at the parade, vowed to use atomic weapons in self-defence “if the US imperialists and their followers encroach upon the sovereignty and dignity of the country even a bit”.

Some foreign media were also invited. The unusual invitation was an “attempt to showcase the next leader more publicly to the outside world”, said Paik Hak-Soon, of South Korea’s Sejong Institute think-tank.

“The North is trying to foster the image of Jong-Un as a leader from a new generation, with a more internationally-oriented mind and more willing to communicate with the outside world,” he told AFP.

More than 300,000 people turned out to welcome the troops, who responded with loud shouts of slogans such as “Human bombs and bullets” and “Single-minded unity”.

Leader Kim, dressed in his customary khaki tunic suit, occasionally applauded and raised his right hand to salute the troops. He was seen limping in his left leg.