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Kim Jong-il reelected as N. Korea's military chief, promotes in-law to top post
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea reelected leader Kim Jong-il as its top commander and promoted his brother-in-law to a powerful military post Thursday, its media said, in possible signs that Kim is gathering his confidantes to prepare for a power transfer.
In a crucial parliamentary meeting, the North also decided to revise its constitution for the first time in 11 years, the state media said. Amid damaged relations with Seoul's conservative government, the North removed an inter-Korean cooperation committee from its Cabinet.
Kim made his first major appearance since his reported stroke last summer as the rubber-stamp parliament reappointed him as chairman of the National Defence Commission, the highest military decision-making body. His reappointment reflects "all the servicepersons and people's expression of unquestioned support and trust in him," the official Korean Central News Agency said.
Footage aired by the Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station showed a leaner, expressionless Kim in his trademark khaki military suit taking about 10 steps to his seat. He was slightly limping on his left foot, and his left hand barely moved when he raised both hands to applaud the audience that gave him a standing ovation.
Amid signs of recuperation from his illness, Kim, 67, promoted his brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, as a member of the National Defence Commission. Jang, currently a department director of the Workers' Party, was spotted increasingly frequently with Kim during the leader's field trips this year, an indication that he had become the aging leader's right-hand man.
"The most significant part in the parliament decisions is Jang Song-thaek's promotion," Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said. "Chairman Kim Jong-il called Jang Song-thaek to the front line to solidify his regime and also, indirectly, start preparations for laying the groundwork for his successor."
Analysts have said Jang may play a caretaking role for Kim's successor, likely to be one of his three sons. Some sources say Kim has named his youngest son, Jong-un, as his heir, but Seoul's intelligence officials say there is no hard evidence to prove that.
The state media said lawmakers approved a motion for a constitutional amendment, but gave no further details. An amendment in 1992 helped transfer military command to Kim from his father and then President Kim Il-sung.
Lawmakers "adopted the ordinance of the SPA 'On revising and supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK (North Korea)' with a unanimous approval," the Korean Central News Agency said.
Likely a response to the conservative Lee Myung-bak government, the new parliament removed a Cabinet-level committee on economic cooperation with South Korea, which was set up amid brisk relations in 2004. Major inter-Korean economic ventures were shut down last year as political relations fell apart, and the North further threatened the last remaining such project, a joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong, last month.
The parliament gave no word about regional tensions, while the international community strove for ways to respond to the country's rocket launch.
Countries including South Korea and the United States are seeking to punish North Korea for this past weekend's launch, which they believe was actually a test of a long-range missile. Both Russia and China, the North's closest allies, oppose sanctions.
North Korea says Sunday's launch successfully put a satellite into orbit, but intelligence officials say the rocket boosters and the payload fell into the ocean.
Pyongyang's media reports have tied the rocket launch and Kim's 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, there were 20 to industrial facilities, while 13 were military visits, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.
North Korea's government budget will show growth of 5.2 percent from last year, with a big share of it going to economic development and the "improvement of the standard of people's living," the report said. Its defense budget, 15.8 percent of the total, is the same as last year, it said. The report gave no actual amounts, but the North's budget revenue this year is expected to be 482.6 billion won (US$3.45 billion), and its defense budget 76.25 million won, based on previous information.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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