SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un led thousands of officials yesterday 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 December 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 yesterday 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.
AFP
