N.K. military vows loyalty to leader`s `bloodline` ahead of election

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with military official's remarks; TRIMS)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's vice defense minister pledged his
loyalty to leader Kim Jong-il's "bloodline" on Wednesday as Pyongyang prepared to
hold parliamentary elections amid growing speculation over succession in the
communist state.
The election, set for March 8, is seen by some analysts as an event that will
pave the way for Kim's successor. The theme of "bloodline" and "inheritance" has
been recurring in state media and senior officials' remarks in recent weeks.
"We will firmly carry on the bloodline of Mangyongdae and Mount Paektu with our
guns, faithfully upholding the leadership of our supreme commander," Pak
Jae-kyong, vice minister of the People's Armed Forces, the body equivalent to
South Korea's defense ministry, said in a gathering to celebrate Kim's candidacy.
Mangyongdae in Pyongyang is North Korean founder Kim Il-sung's birthplace, and
Mount Paektu on the border with China is said to be the birthplace of current
leader Kim Jong-il, although Soviet records show he was born in a Soviet village.
In similar references, the ruling Workers' Party editorial called for the
"inheritance of bloodline" on the leader's birthday on Monday. On Feb. 6, the
party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, emphasized the spirit of the "Mangyongdae
family" in building a strong nation.
Intelligence sources told Yonhap last month that Kim, apparently driven by his
poor health, named his third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor on
Jan. 8.
The Mainichi Shimbun, a Japanese daily, also said Tuesday that the third son has
been selected.
The current leader took over in the first hereditary power succession in a
communist regime when Kim Il-sung died in 1994.
In an open letter to citizens earlier in the day, Kim said he decided to run in
the 333rd military constituency and encouraged to citizens to vote.
"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
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim usually chooses to run in the first military constituency to nominate him,
although all constituencies do so in a symbolic move.
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 in a sign that
Kim is now fully back in charge. Kim, who turned 67 on Monday, has a history of
diabetes and heart disease.
A South Korean state-run think tank, the Institute for National Security
Strategy, said in late December that North Korea will promote young economic
technocrats in the vote to prepare for the post-Kim era.
The North's parliamentary vote is a direct election, but only one candidate is
appointed per district by the ruling Workers' Party. Thus all are elected with
100 percent approval. The current 687 delegates were picked in 2003.
He represented the 666th and 649th military electorates in 1998 and 2003,
respectively.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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