(News Focus) N. Korea busy with leader's birthday events amid rising border tension

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea was busy Sunday preparing to celebrate
leader Kim Jong-il's birthday, state-run media said, amid outside concern focused
on his country's missile activity and succession issues.
Kim, who turns 67 on Monday, is showing signs he is still in full control of the
country's military and has significantly recovered from a stroke that he was
suspected to have last summer.
The aging leader shook up the military leadership last week, promoting his close
confidants with combat savvy.
Seoul officials, alerted by a string of the North's belligerent rhetoric, were on
a tense vigil against a possible provocation, but no unusual signs were spotted
on the eve of Kim's birthday. Intelligence officials have also spotted signs of
North Korea preparing to test-launch a long-range missile, while its state media
intensified threats of a border clash against Seoul's hard-line government.
"There is nothing unusual inside North Korea," Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for the
Unification Ministry handling North Korea affairs, said on Sunday. "Common
activities are underway for Kim's birthday."
Kim's personality cult appeared to have peaked over the weekend. In a series of
reports on Saturday night, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
reported that North Koreans are busily keeping up the festive mood for the "dear
father."
"The Korean people are holding leader Kim Jong-il in high esteem and following
him as their dear father," the KCNA said. "He keeps his mind on the people every
minute and maps out a plan for the happiness of the people when seeing a thing."
Streets, bridges and residential quarters have been decorated with flowers and
electric lamps to stir up the festive atmosphere. Roasted chestnuts and sweet
potatoes, peanuts and cotton candy were scheduled to be served in street stalls
for the holiday, while food factories were increasing production to supply the
leader's gifts to citizens. An international figure skating festival and the
Kimjongilia Festival, a feast celebrating a flower named after the leader, were
set to open on the leader's birthday, the KCNA said.
Kim's birthday is the most important holiday in the communist state along with
April 15, the birthday of his late father and North Korean founder, Kim Il-sung.
The younger Kim took over in communism's first hereditary power succession when
his father died in 1994.
Who is next in line is a major concern in the outside world. Kim's first son, Kim
Jong-nam, was seen Saturday at Beijing Capital International Airport returning to
Pyongyang in a trip that appeared to be related to his father's birthday events,
sources in Beijing said.
Arriving in Beijing for his regular trip on Jan. 27, the eldest son, 38, told
foreign reporters he has "no interest" in power and that his "father alone can
decide" his successor. The first such remarks from a family insider stoked
external speculation that a power transfer may be imminent.
The leader, apparently driven by his health condition after his reported stroke
in August, named his third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor,
intelligence sources told Yonhap in early January. North Korea will hold an
important election to elect its new lawmakers on March 8, which Seoul analysts
say will be used to lay the groundwork for the post-Kim era.
The leader's recent military shake-up was seen by many as a sign that Kim is
assembling his closest aides to avert a possible backlash against his choice of a
successor. He newly promoted his defense minister and the chief of the General
Staff on Wednesday.
The military reshuffle also drew keen attention in South Korea because of the
sensitive timing. North Korea declared a non-aggression inter-Korean accord void
and threatened a naval clash along the western sea border in recent weeks.
Intelligence officials in Seoul and Washington also believe the North is
preparing for a long-range missile test that in theory can reach the western
United States.
The timing was particularly sensitive ahead of a Seoul visit by U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton from Feb. 19-20, the first such trip by a ranking official
of the new U.S. administration, which will be followed by the first inaugural
anniversary of President Lee Myung-bak on Feb. 25.
Seoul analysts say Pyongyang is using the missile ploy and other threats to grab
the attention of the new U.S. administration and pressure the conservative Lee
government into dropping its hard-line policy. But they agreed a military
provocation is unlikely on the leader's birthday.
"North Koreans would want to celebrate the birthday of their supreme leader, and
to try a provocation would be disturbing and be considered irreverent," Koh
Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies professor at Seoul's Dongguk University, said.
The unification ministry spokesman said on Sunday North Korea has not yet
injected fuel into its missile.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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