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Seoul
09 April 2009
North Korean members of parliament have opened a new legislative
session by formally re-appointing Kim Jong Il the leader of the
country. State television showed the North Korean leader attending the
session, Thursday, ending months of absence from public view.
Intelligence
agencies believe the North Korean leader suffered a stroke in the
middle of last year. Until Thursday, he had all but disappeared from
public view. Mr. Kim's previously stout image appears visibly leaner.
A North Korean newsreader announced Mr. Kim remains firmly in charge of the country.
She says Kim Jong Il has been re-appointed as chairman of the country's National Defense Commission.
The
appointment was the first order of business Thursday at the North's
legislature, a ceremonial body which exists mainly to approve dictates
from the central communist party. The title of Defense Commission
Chairman effectively makes Mr. Kim leader of a government that teaches
children to worship the Kim family from birth.
North Korea's
launch of a long-range rocket this week was seen by many observers as a
means to rally public sentiment behind the 67-year-old leader, and help
him reassert the perception that he remains healthy and in charge.
North Korean television has been showing mass rallies which took place Wednesday to celebrate the launch.
Choe
Tae Bok, secretary of the North's ruling party, tells tens of thousands
of people at the gathering the launch was a "historical victory over
other countries, and the fruit of wisdom and talent."
Brian
Myers, a specialist in North Korean political propaganda at South
Korea's Dongseo University, says even under the North's authoritarian
system, building public support is crucial.
"I think many people
in the West seem to mistake North Korea for a sort of 1984, East
Germany-style 24-7 surveillance state. And it really isn't. It
doesn't have either the financial means or the technological means," he
said.
Scholars like Myers say the big question in the days ahead
is what if any changes the North's leader will make in the structure of
the government. Such changes could suggest Kim Jong Il may be clearing
the way for a future successor.
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