N. Korea pours praise on Kim for rocket launch in anticipation of his reelection

(ATTN: MODIFIES Kim's quote in 8th para)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's state media heaped lavish praise on
leader Kim Jong-il Tuesday for guiding what they called the country's successful
satellite launch ahead of his expected reelection in an important parliamentary
meeting.

Kim "was choked with sobs" as he thought of the poor citizens who may have been
better off using the money that instead went to Sunday's launch, said the Rodong
Sinmun, the North's main newspaper published by the Workers' Party.
Local media continued to claim the country's experimental communications
satellite, the Kwangmyongsong-2, went into orbit, regardless of other countries
concluding that it fell into the Pacific Ocean and never entered space.
The North timed the launch date with a politically significant event -- the first
meeting of its newly elected parliament -- in an apparent bid to boost Kim's
standing. During Thursday's meeting, new lawmakers are expected to reappoint Kim
as chairman of the National Defence Commission, the highest decision-making body
that oversees the country's 1.19 million-strong military, which Seoul officials
compare to the inauguration of a new administration.
"Ask this to the conscience of mankind: Is there a country like (North Korea)
that has successfully sent a satellite with its own technology 100 percent while
under the worst condition of being shut off and pressured by imperialists?" the
paper said.
"The successful launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 was a great historic
event heralding the victorious advent of a great, prosperous and powerful
nation," it said, referring to the North's foremost campaign to rebuild its
economy by 2012.
The paper portrayed Kim as strong yet tender-hearted, saying he felt sorry for
making poor people sacrifice for the satellite launch, a possible indication that
there might be internal skepticism about the costly space project.
"Even though he has brought this overflowing victory, he felt sorry for not being
able to spend more money on the people's livelihoods and was chocked with sobs,
saying, 'Our people will still understand,'" the paper quoted Kim as saying.
It also called Kim a "patriot that comes to Earth only once in a thousand years."
Suh Jae-jin, president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a
state-run think tank for Seoul's Unification Ministry, said how North Korean
citizens truly feel about the rocket launch is different from their government's
propaganda.
"They may not say it, but many would be critical," Suh said. "Their biggest
concerns are for their children and their welfare, and many people are
disillusioned by the government's self-reliant, military-first ideologies."
The latest rocket launch, the Rodong Sinmun noted, achieved another "historic
feat" for the country, reminiscent of its first satellite launch in 1998 and an
underground nuclear test in 2006. Such feats are a demonstration of North Korean
power to "enemies," it said.
After launching what it called "Kwangmyongsong-1" satellite in 1998, North Korea
claimed the vehicle entered orbit and transmitted paeans for Kim and his father,
the late President Kim Il-sung, to Earth, a claim that is now being repeated
after Sunday's launch.
The official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Kim watched the launch
at a satellite command center and lauded scientists for putting the satellite
into orbit. The report did not say where the General Satellite Control and
Command Centre is located, but Seoul government sources say it is believed to be
in Pyongyang.
The news agency also released pictures of Kim posing with senior party officials
and young scientists at the satellite center after the launch, in what appeared
to be part of media promotions for internal politics.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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