N. Korean leader ready to tighten power after rocket launch

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Wednesday appeared
ready to reaffirm his control over the country, with state television airing
roaring images of the country's recent rocket launch in what analysts said was
fanfare for an important political event.
A new parliament elected last month is set to hold its first meeting on Thursday
to reappoint Kim as the country's military chief. His reelection as chairman of
the National Defense Commission -- this will mark Kim's third term since rising
to power after the death of his father in 1994 -- will be closely monitored by
experts, and follows the leader's reported stroke last August.
Signs that Kim is in poor health have sparked speculation he may consider making
a transfer of power sometime soon. Seoul analysts say Kim will likely aim for
three goals in the meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly this week: boosting
internal unity after his illness, intensifying the country's economic drive and
tidying up the power structure for whomever his successor may be.
Sunday's rocket launch was a major booster for Kim. State media portrayed it as a
"historic feat" that put an indigenously developed communications satellite,
Kwangmyongsong-2, into orbit.
Outside monitors have not confirmed the rocket actually carried a satellite, and
say the second and third stages of the rocket fizzled into the Pacific Ocean
without lobbing anything into space.
"North Korea has to hype the celebratory mood, no matter what outsiders say. From
the beginning, the North made the launch an official fanfare for the start of
Kim's third term. Internally, it has to show to its people that the launch was
successful," said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korean studies professor at Dongguk
University in Seoul.
The North's state television on Tuesday evening broadcast images of the
three-stage rocket blasting off from a launch pad on the country's northeastern
coast. The footage followed an hour-long documentary focusing on the North Korean
leader -- the first such video aired since his reported stroke.
The images of Kim and the rocket, televised to North Korean households at
dinnertime, appeared to be carefully coordinated, analysts said.
Kim appears frail in footage apparently recorded soon after he fell ill, but in
images taken more recently he seems to have almost fully recuperated.
During a trip to a machinery plant and a nearby soap factory on Nov. 24, Kim kept
his left hand tucked in his pocket. In images from December, he lifted his left
hand and applauded.
There was no footage showing him walking briskly.
Compared with recent years, Kim has nearly tripled his number of field
inspections in the past three months, mindful of an economic drive aimed at
reviving the moribund economy by 2012 and hoping to set an example for his
successor, according to Hong Ihk-hyun, an analyst with the Korea Institute for
International Economic Policy.
"Kim must have realized, while he fell ill, that the official absence of a
successor could expose a weak point in his regime that could be exploited by
outside forces. That could lead Kim to try to strengthen internal unity and
settle the succession issue early," Hong said.
Sources say Kim has named his third and youngest son, Jong-un, as his successor,
but Seoul officials say there is no hard evidence to back the report.
State media reports have tied the rocket launch with the country's campaign to
build a "great prosperous and powerful socialist nation," and to become
self-sufficient in terms of food and expand infrastructure. Earlier this year,
Kim appointed a number of economic technocrats to the Cabinet.
In its first meeting, North Korea's parliament usually discusses reshuffles in
the Cabinet, and military and government budgets.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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