Kim Il-Sung's 100th birthday celebrated in North Korea
Reuters
2012-04-15
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PLEASE NOTE, THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
(ROUGH CUT, NO REPORTER NARRATION)
North Korea celebrated the 100th birthday of founder Kim Il-sung on Sunday (April 15).
Kim Il-sung, the founder of the world's only Stalinist monarchy, is called "Eternal President" in North Korea.
Thousands of goose-stepping soldiers and sailors showcased the North's military power in spring sunlight, moving into impressive formations at the eponymous Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang.
Crowds including foreign guests cheered, the North Koreans chanting and clapping in unison.
A jowly Kim Jong-un, clad in black and the third Kim to rule North Korea, addressed the crowd, reading monotonously from a script
Sunday's celebration followed North Korea's attempt to launch a long range rocket, which ended in embarrassing failure on Friday (April 13).
The youngest Kim to rule the isolated country appears to have little choice but to stick to his father's playbook of milking the country to develop weapons and blackmail the international community for aid and recognition.
The state that Kim inherited in December after the death of his father Kim Jong-il boasts a 1.2 million-strong military, wants to possess a nuclear weapon and to develop the ability to hit the United States with it - the aim, critics say, of the failed rocket launch.
Behind those ambitions are 23 million people, many malnourished, in an economy whose output is worth just $40 billion annually in purchasing power parity terms, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, compared with South Korea's $1.5 trillion economy.
(ROUGH CUT, NO REPORTER NARRATION)
North Korea celebrated the 100th birthday of founder Kim Il-sung on Sunday (April 15).
Kim Il-sung, the founder of the world's only Stalinist monarchy, is called "Eternal President" in North Korea.
Thousands of goose-stepping soldiers and sailors showcased the North's military power in spring sunlight, moving into impressive formations at the eponymous Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang.
Crowds including foreign guests cheered, the North Koreans chanting and clapping in unison.
A jowly Kim Jong-un, clad in black and the third Kim to rule North Korea, addressed the crowd, reading monotonously from a script
Sunday's celebration followed North Korea's attempt to launch a long range rocket, which ended in embarrassing failure on Friday (April 13).
The youngest Kim to rule the isolated country appears to have little choice but to stick to his father's playbook of milking the country to develop weapons and blackmail the international community for aid and recognition.
The state that Kim inherited in December after the death of his father Kim Jong-il boasts a 1.2 million-strong military, wants to possess a nuclear weapon and to develop the ability to hit the United States with it - the aim, critics say, of the failed rocket launch.
Behind those ambitions are 23 million people, many malnourished, in an economy whose output is worth just $40 billion annually in purchasing power parity terms, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, compared with South Korea's $1.5 trillion economy.
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