North Korea’s new leader threatened war in 2009

NORTH KOREA’S new leader vowed in 2009 to wage war if the country’s enemies shot down its long-range rocket, footage aired on state television showed yesterday in the first official word of his role in military operations before his father’s death.

The documentary is the second in a week seeking to highlight Kim Jong Un’s experience in leading North Korea’s 1.2 million-strong military and was aimed at showing he was in charge of the armed forces long before his father, former leader Kim Jong Il, died of a heart attack last month.

The son, who is in his late 20s, has moved swiftly into the role of “supreme leader” of the people, the ruling Workers’ Party, and the military, despite questions abroad about how easily he could assume power with only a few years of grooming behind him.