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.

Kim Jong Il, in contrast, had 20 years of training when his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.

Where a North Korea under Kim Jong Un is headed is deemed crucial because the country is locked in a long-running standoff over its nuclear ambitions and is grappling with chronic food shortages. North Korea has tested two atomic devices and is believed to be working toward mounting a bomb on a missile capable of reaching the US.

After years of acrimony, Pyongyang and Washington had begun talks about food aid and how to restart nuclear disarmament talks suspended when Kim died last month. The US and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations.

Yesterday’s footage — shown on a day believed to be Kim Jong Un’s birthday — confirmed he was being groomed as early as 2009 to succeed Kim Jong Il.

The video showed Kim Jong Un shaking hands with officials at a satellite control centre after scientists launched a rocket in April 2009 that stoked regional tensions.