(2nd LD) N. Korean assembly to convene on April 9, shortly after rocket launch

(ATTN: UPDATES with experts' comment on N. Korea confident of launch success,
effects, detained U.S. journalists)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will convene its new assembly a day after
a period set for the country's rocket launch in early April, Pyongyang's media
said Friday, in an arrangement that appeared aimed at maximizing the launch's
political effect.
By publicly announcing the schedule, North Korea is manifesting its confidence
that what it calls a "communications satellite" will make successfully into
orbit, analysts said.
Pyongyang told international aviation and maritime monitors earlier this month
that it will launch the satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 via a domestically-made
carrier rocket called Unha-2 some time between April 4-8. Regional neighbors
believe North Korea actually intends to test-fire a ballistic missile.
As all eyes were on the rocket launch, the North's Korean Central News Agency
said the first session of the newly-elected Supreme People's Assembly "will be
convened in Pyongyang on April 9."
The date was officially chosen on Monday, the two-sentence report said.
The North's assembly is a rubber stamp parliament, but the Seoul compares its
opening to the inauguration of a new government in other countries. The new
lawmakers will reappoint leader Kim Jong-il as chairman of the National Defense
Commission, the highest-decision making body that oversees the country's
1.19-million-person military, and discuss a government budget along with a
shakeup in the Cabinet and the military.
The March 8 elections brought no major generational change to the 687-member
assembly, except for several economic technocrats promoted to the legislature.
New faces accounted for 46 percent of the assembly, lower than 65 percent in 1998
and 50 percent in 2003.
Seoul analysts say North Korea has carefully timed its assembly schedule to
amplify the political effects of the rocket at home and abroad. The launch will
be a "fanfare" for Kim's new administration while raising his leverage in future
negotiations with the Barack Obama government over Pyongyang's nuclear and
missile programs, said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korean studies professor at Dongguk
University in Seoul.
"The launch may instantly freeze Pyongyang's relations with Washington. But the
U.S. government intends to talk with North Korea, and the North is open to it.
Tensions will ease before long and they will reach out for direct talks," Kim
said.
North Korea is also confident the launch will succeed, after seeing Iran put its
satellite into orbit, said Cha Doo-hyeogn, a North Korea analyst with the
state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul. North Korea and Iran, as
well as Pakistan, have shared their expertise in missile technology for years, he
noted.
"North Korea appears to be fairly confident about its technology, announcing the
schedules," he said. "For North Korea, Iran's successful launch was its own
preliminary test."
North Korea launched the satellite Kwangmyongsong-1 in 1998 but it did not make
it into orbit. The U.S. later called it a "failed" attempt.
The previous launch took place on Aug. 31, five days before the 10th new assembly
convened.
North Korea's ongoing detention of two U.S. female journalists will further push
the U.S. toward direct talks with North Korea, both analysts noted. The
journalists were arrested this week after allegedly crossing into North Korea
from China. A diplomatic source in Seoul said secret talks are already underway
for their release.
North Korea says its planned rocket launch is part of its peaceful space
development program. It warned that any foreign attempt to intercept its rocket
will lead to war.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)