ID :
46224
Wed, 02/18/2009 - 13:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/46224
The shortlink copeid
N. Korean leader calls for 'unity' ahead of parliamentary polls
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il called for "single-hearted unity" on Wednesday as his nation prepared to hold long overdue parliamentary elections, in which Kim will represent a military electorate, state media said.
North Korea bypassed the important election last autumn amid reports that Kim had
a stroke in August. In January, Pyongyang set the vote for March 8 in a sign that
Kim is now back in full charge.
"The forthcoming election will exalt the dignity and authority of our socialist
country," Kim said in an open letter to his citizens. It demonstrates "the might
of our single-hearted unity," he said.
In the letter, he encouraged people to vote, calling the election "significant"
part of an ongoing economic drive. North Korea seeks to significantly strengthen
its economy by 2012, the 100th birthday of the late Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il's
father and the founder of North Korea.
In line with the economic campaign, the North Korean leader has made notably more
public inspections of manufacturing facilities when compared with recent years.
"The election to the 12th Supreme People's Assembly is all the more significant
in that it is to be held in a pulsating period where a fresh revolutionary
upsurge is being brought about on all fronts of the building of a great,
prosperous and powerful country," Kim said in the letter, according to the Korean
Central News Agency.
The leader also said he has decided to run in the 333rd military constituency.
Kim usually chooses to run in the first military constituency to nominate him,
although all constituencies do so in a symbolic move.
He represented the 666th and 649th military electorates in 1998 and 2003,
respectively.
The North's parliamentary vote is a direct election, but only one candidate is
appointed per district by the ruling Workers' Party and thus all are elected with
100 percent approval. The current 687 delegates were picked in 2003.
Some analysts say Pyongyang will use the parliamentary vote to pave the ground
for Kim's successor. Kim turned 67 on Monday amid lingering concern about his
health.
Intelligence sources told Yonhap last month that Kim had named his third and
youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor on Jan. 8.
The 25-year-old Jong-un, born to Kim's third wife Ko Yong-hi and educated in
Switzerland, has been said to be his father's favorite, bearing a close
resemblance in appearance and temperament to the aging leader.
Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun also said on Tuesday that the third son has been
selected.
The current leader took over when his father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung
died in 1994, the first hereditary power succession in a communist regime.
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il called for "single-hearted unity" on Wednesday as his nation prepared to hold long overdue parliamentary elections, in which Kim will represent a military electorate, state media said.
North Korea bypassed the important election last autumn amid reports that Kim had
a stroke in August. In January, Pyongyang set the vote for March 8 in a sign that
Kim is now back in full charge.
"The forthcoming election will exalt the dignity and authority of our socialist
country," Kim said in an open letter to his citizens. It demonstrates "the might
of our single-hearted unity," he said.
In the letter, he encouraged people to vote, calling the election "significant"
part of an ongoing economic drive. North Korea seeks to significantly strengthen
its economy by 2012, the 100th birthday of the late Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il's
father and the founder of North Korea.
In line with the economic campaign, the North Korean leader has made notably more
public inspections of manufacturing facilities when compared with recent years.
"The election to the 12th Supreme People's Assembly is all the more significant
in that it is to be held in a pulsating period where a fresh revolutionary
upsurge is being brought about on all fronts of the building of a great,
prosperous and powerful country," Kim said in the letter, according to the Korean
Central News Agency.
The leader also said he has decided to run in the 333rd military constituency.
Kim usually chooses to run in the first military constituency to nominate him,
although all constituencies do so in a symbolic move.
He represented the 666th and 649th military electorates in 1998 and 2003,
respectively.
The North's parliamentary vote is a direct election, but only one candidate is
appointed per district by the ruling Workers' Party and thus all are elected with
100 percent approval. The current 687 delegates were picked in 2003.
Some analysts say Pyongyang will use the parliamentary vote to pave the ground
for Kim's successor. Kim turned 67 on Monday amid lingering concern about his
health.
Intelligence sources told Yonhap last month that Kim had named his third and
youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor on Jan. 8.
The 25-year-old Jong-un, born to Kim's third wife Ko Yong-hi and educated in
Switzerland, has been said to be his father's favorite, bearing a close
resemblance in appearance and temperament to the aging leader.
Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun also said on Tuesday that the third son has been
selected.
The current leader took over when his father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung
died in 1994, the first hereditary power succession in a communist regime.
