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Big parade marks N. Korea's founding
Source: Agencies |
September 10, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his son and heir stood together on a podium in Pyongyang yesterday as goose-stepping troops carried rifles, rocket launchers and a large portrait of late leader Kim Il Sung in a massive military parade marking the 63rd anniversary of the country's founding.
Television footage of the event provided a glimpse of the Kim family displaying its power as the country moves toward a hereditary succession and the April celebration of the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's revered founder and the father of Kim Jong Il.
The North Korean military's show of force in Kim Il Sung Square included anti-aircraft and artillery guns, and multi-rocket launchers.
This year's parade was unusual because North Korea normally holds such military extravaganzas in years that end with five or zero. It suggests Pyongyang is bolstering efforts to unite the country ahead of next year's centennial. North Korea touts 2012 as the beginning of its rise as a strong and prosperous nation.
Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father died in 1994. In September last year, the 69-year-old Kim unveiled his son Kim Jong Un as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts. Kim could be aiming to boost his third son's role in government and military affairs even higher next year.
As soldiers and weapons paraded by, the Kims saluted, talked briefly with each other and clapped. The son, looking remarkably like a young Kim Il Sung, stood stiffly in a black Mao suit, his hair cropped close. His father, also wearing a Mao suit and his trademark sunglasses, occasionally looked back over his shoulder to talk to aides during the parade.
Thousands of civilians gathered in neat rows in the square below the Kims, waving pink artificial flowers and chanting Kim Jong Il's name.
Television footage of the event provided a glimpse of the Kim family displaying its power as the country moves toward a hereditary succession and the April celebration of the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's revered founder and the father of Kim Jong Il.
The North Korean military's show of force in Kim Il Sung Square included anti-aircraft and artillery guns, and multi-rocket launchers.
This year's parade was unusual because North Korea normally holds such military extravaganzas in years that end with five or zero. It suggests Pyongyang is bolstering efforts to unite the country ahead of next year's centennial. North Korea touts 2012 as the beginning of its rise as a strong and prosperous nation.
Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father died in 1994. In September last year, the 69-year-old Kim unveiled his son Kim Jong Un as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts. Kim could be aiming to boost his third son's role in government and military affairs even higher next year.
As soldiers and weapons paraded by, the Kims saluted, talked briefly with each other and clapped. The son, looking remarkably like a young Kim Il Sung, stood stiffly in a black Mao suit, his hair cropped close. His father, also wearing a Mao suit and his trademark sunglasses, occasionally looked back over his shoulder to talk to aides during the parade.
Thousands of civilians gathered in neat rows in the square below the Kims, waving pink artificial flowers and chanting Kim Jong Il's name.
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