Jakarta Globe, December 16, 2012
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| This file handout picture taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Dec. 28, 2011 shows Kim Jong-Un, center, Kim Yong-Nam, third right, president of North Korean People's Assembly and number two leader, and other senior officials of the party paying their tribute before the funeral procession for North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-Il at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang. (AFP Photo/KCNA) |
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Seoul. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un led thousands of officials on Sunday in a memorial ceremony for his late father and ex-ruler Kim Jong-Il, days after a successful long-range rocket launch.
The
ceremony followed a mass rally two days earlier hailing the launch of the
three-stage rocket, a move which was condemned by the UN Security Council and
seen by many countries as a disguised ballistic missile test.
Kim
Jong-Il, who ruled the communist state for 17 years, died of a heart attack on
Dec. 17 last year.
His
youngest son Jong-Un immediately took over, the second dynastic succession by
the Kim dynasty, which has ruled the isolated country for more than six decades
with an iron fist and a pervasive personality cult.
Officials
in black suits and uniformed military leaders convened in a cavernous stadium
in the capital Pyongyang on Sunday morning for the hour-long memorial event,
which was televised live on state TV.
Jong-Un,
stone-faced and clad in a black Mao suit, sat on stage with dozens of other top
officials against the backdrop of a giant red flag featuring a large portrait
of a smiling Kim Jong-Il.
“The heart
of the great leader stopped beating but Comrade Kim Jong-Il lives with us
forever... to give blessings for the bright future of our people,” the
ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-Nam said in a speech.
“The
successful launch of our Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite is also another victory
achieved by our military and people, by faithfully following the teachings of
the great leader [Kim Jong-Il],” he said.
It was
unclear what memorial events were scheduled on Monday, the anniversary day.
The North
said the apparently successful launch — its second after a much-heralded but
botched mission in April — was a scientific project to put a weather satellite
into orbit.
But the
United States and other nations viewed it as a disguised ballistic missile test
banned under UN resolutions triggered by its past nuclear tests in 2006 and
2009.
The
Security Council on Wednesday condemned the launch and said members “will
continue consultations on an appropriate response.”
The
impoverished but nuclear-armed nation apparently timed the launch to mark the
death anniversary and to drum up more support for the young and inexperienced
Jong-Un.
Choe
Ryong-Hae, the head of the political bureau at the North’s military, vowed to
“hit back immediately” if rival South Korea or the United States provokes the
nation, and reaffirmed loyalty to the young leader.
“Our whole
army stands ready for battle under the teachings of Kim Jong-Un while the US
and South’s enemy forces are going amok to destroy our system,” he said in a
speech.
“It is our
firm determination to hit back immediately at provocations ... and we solemnly
pledge again to faithfully serve our dear supreme commander [Jong-Un],” Choe
said to big applause from the crowd.
Mass
rallies are being staged nationwide to celebrate the rocket launch, the ruling
party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Sunday.
Officials,
students, workers and soldiers in three northern provinces rallied on Saturday
to give speeches and sing songs in memory of the late ruler and to praise his
son for leading the successful launch, it said.
Agence France-Presse
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