N. Korean parliament convenes to renew leader Kim's term

(ATTN: TRIMS headline, UPDATES with meeting that began 10 a.m., N.K. media to
announce 'important' report at noon, quotes from N.K. editorial, Seoul official)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's new parliament opened its first session
to fortify leader Kim Jong-il's standing on Thursday, as the international
community strove to punish the communist North for its recent rocket launch.
Countries, including South Korea and the United States, are seeking to punish
North Korea for its satellite launch the past weekend that they believe was
actually a test of a long-range missile, while any sanctions are opposed by China
and Russia.
The Supreme People's Assembly, newly elected last month, will reappoint Kim as
chairman of the National Defense Commission, the highest military decision-making
body, a move that will cement Kim's power amid international pressure and
lingering skepticism about his health.
The first session "is a significant meeting to set up a new milestone in
developing our republic as a mighty revolutionary government under the banner of
our great Comrade Kim Jong-il's military-first policy," the Rodong Sinmun, the
North's main newspaper published by the Workers' Party, said in an editorial.
The official Korean Central News Agency said state television and radio will
broadcast an "important" report at noon, possibly the announcement of Kim's
reappointment.
Kim was first elected in 1993 as chairman of the National Defense Commission that
oversees the country's 1.19-million military and appoints senior military posts,
a year before the death of his father and the country's founder, Kim Il-sung. Kim
has since made the military-first policy the nation's foremost motto.
The Supreme People's Assembly is a rubber stamp parliament that gives routine
approval to Kim's decisions, but its first meeting is politically significant,
renewing Kim's five-year term, approving shake-ups in the Cabinet and the
military and ratifying foreign policy directives.
As part of its foreign policy agenda, new lawmakers may reaffirm Pyongyang's
tough stance defending its rocket launch in response to moves by Seoul,
Washington and Tokyo to strengthen U.N. sanctions against the isolated nation.
North Korea was sharpening its combative rhetoric toward South Korea and the U.S.
following the rocket launch. In a mass celebratory gathering in Pyongyang on
Wednesday, Choe Thae-bok, secretary of the Workers' Party central committee, said
the situation is "tense" due to the "hostile policy of the hard-line conservative
forces of the U.S. towards the DPRK (North Korea) and the moves of the South
Korean warmongers, calling for citizens to unite around their leader.
"The threatening expressions with regard to the situation on the Korean Peninsula
were raised to a higher level, compared to last year when they described the
situation as tense and unstable," said Seoul's Unification Ministry spokeswoman
Lee Jong-joo.
The North's military also warned Japan against trying to locate debris from its
three-stage rocket, amid reports the Japanese government was considering
salvaging parts of the rocket to assess the North's ballistic technology. Such a
search would be an "intolerable military provocative act," the General Staff of
the North's Korean People's Army said on Wednesday.
North Korea's state media continued to claim that Sunday's launch successfully
put a satellite into orbit, but intelligence officials say one of the three
boosters fell into the East Sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, while the
two others and the payload fizzled into the Pacific Ocean.
For North Korea watchers, the biggest question is how broadly Kim will reshuffle
the National Defense Commission and whether he will revise the constitution to
restructure state agencies, indicating a policy shift. Kim allegedly suffered a
stroke last August, and will likely try to tidy up the power structure to make
room for a successor, they suggest.
"Kim must have realized when 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," said Hong Ihk-hyun, an analyst with the Korea Institute
for International Economic Policy in Seoul.
Pyongyang's media reports have tied the rocket launch and Kim's predicted
reappointment to the country's economic campaign to build a "great, prosperous
and powerful socialist nation" by 2012, the centennial anniversary of Kim
Il-sung's birth.
Compared to recent years, Kim has nearly tripled his number of field inspections
in the past three months, revving up the economic drive. Among his 44 trips so
far, 20 visits were to industrial facilities, compared to 13 military visits,
according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)