A newspaper urged Kim Jong-un to become “supreme commander” of the military.
Among the officials there was Jang Song-taek, Mr. Kim’s uncle and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, whose role as the young successor’s caretaker has been magnified during the transition. Mr. Jang, 65, in what was said to be his first public appearance in a military uniform on state television, wore a general’s insignia.
On Saturday, the generals visited the Kumsusan mausoleum, where the senior Mr. Kim lay in a glass coffin. North Korea’s state-run media also published an entreaty to Kim Jong-un the same day to become “supreme commander” of the military. That official plea, along with the television footage of the generals and Mr. Jang’s appearance in a military uniform, signal that the military is spearheading Mr. Kim’s succession.
The military’s support is considered crucial if Mr. Kim is to consolidate control after his father’s death, and a commentary by Rodong Sinmun — the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party and the primary outlet of the government’s policy statements — is part of the pattern set when Kim Jong-il took power: Entreaties are made, and the leader graciously accepts.
The commentary was titled “Our Supreme Commander,” and it called the son, who is believed to be in his late 20s, “our heart.”
“We urge Comrade Kim Jong-un to embrace the people’s call on him to become our supreme commander,” the commentary said. “We will complete the great task of our songun revolution by upholding Comrade Kim Jong-un as our supreme commander, our general.”
The songun, or “military first,” revolution refers to Kim Jong-il’s policy of focusing resources on the Korean People’s Army and using it to police the country and dictate foreign policy, often by raising tensions with other countries. The policy, first adopted amid the famine of the 1990s, spurred the building of nuclear weapons and gave the military and its leaders a more prominent place in the government and in North Korean society.
The state-run media’s call for Kim Jong-un to lead the military suggests that, at least for now, he is on pace to take full control of the country. Analysts outside North Korea had long predicted that a regent might rule while Kim Jong-un gained more experience. While he could still be subject to power plays by influential leaders, it appears for now that he will not have to share control publicly.
South Korea and the United States have been worried that a power struggle could lead the North to lash out with some type of military strike to build the new leader’s military credentials. But the announcement that Kim Jong-un will continue his father’s military-first policy raises the same worry.
Analysts have already suggested that he was involved in the planning of two attacks on the South in 2010: the sinking of a warship and the shelling of an island. Fifty South Koreans died in the two attacks. North Korea has denied responsibility for the sinking.
On Sunday, striking a typically strident posture, North Korea reiterated that if South Korea blocked private delegations from visiting Pyongyang for Mr. Kim’s funeral on Wednesday, there would be “unimaginably disastrous consequences” on relations between the two Koreas.
The statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, was issued in the name of the Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, the agency in the North that is in charge of relations with the South. South Korea has said it would allow a small number of South Korean families with close political and economic ties to North Korea to attend the ceremony..
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/world/asia/kim-jong-un-hailed-as-supreme-commander-of-north-koreas-military.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2
On Saturday, the generals visited the Kumsusan mausoleum, where the senior Mr. Kim lay in a glass coffin. North Korea’s state-run media also published an entreaty to Kim Jong-un the same day to become “supreme commander” of the military. That official plea, along with the television footage of the generals and Mr. Jang’s appearance in a military uniform, signal that the military is spearheading Mr. Kim’s succession.
The military’s support is considered crucial if Mr. Kim is to consolidate control after his father’s death, and a commentary by Rodong Sinmun — the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party and the primary outlet of the government’s policy statements — is part of the pattern set when Kim Jong-il took power: Entreaties are made, and the leader graciously accepts.
The commentary was titled “Our Supreme Commander,” and it called the son, who is believed to be in his late 20s, “our heart.”
“We urge Comrade Kim Jong-un to embrace the people’s call on him to become our supreme commander,” the commentary said. “We will complete the great task of our songun revolution by upholding Comrade Kim Jong-un as our supreme commander, our general.”
The songun, or “military first,” revolution refers to Kim Jong-il’s policy of focusing resources on the Korean People’s Army and using it to police the country and dictate foreign policy, often by raising tensions with other countries. The policy, first adopted amid the famine of the 1990s, spurred the building of nuclear weapons and gave the military and its leaders a more prominent place in the government and in North Korean society.
The state-run media’s call for Kim Jong-un to lead the military suggests that, at least for now, he is on pace to take full control of the country. Analysts outside North Korea had long predicted that a regent might rule while Kim Jong-un gained more experience. While he could still be subject to power plays by influential leaders, it appears for now that he will not have to share control publicly.
South Korea and the United States have been worried that a power struggle could lead the North to lash out with some type of military strike to build the new leader’s military credentials. But the announcement that Kim Jong-un will continue his father’s military-first policy raises the same worry.
Analysts have already suggested that he was involved in the planning of two attacks on the South in 2010: the sinking of a warship and the shelling of an island. Fifty South Koreans died in the two attacks. North Korea has denied responsibility for the sinking.
On Sunday, striking a typically strident posture, North Korea reiterated that if South Korea blocked private delegations from visiting Pyongyang for Mr. Kim’s funeral on Wednesday, there would be “unimaginably disastrous consequences” on relations between the two Koreas.
The statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, was issued in the name of the Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, the agency in the North that is in charge of relations with the South. South Korea has said it would allow a small number of South Korean families with close political and economic ties to North Korea to attend the ceremony..
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/world/asia/kim-jong-un-hailed-as-supreme-commander-of-north-koreas-military.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2
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