North Korea displays military might, heir apparent

A triumphal North Korea displayed its military might and its heir apparent at a huge parade in Pyongyang on Sunday, as a bitter critic of the regime was found dead in South Korea.

The military parade, one of the largest for years in the hardline communist state, was attended by ailing leader Kim Jong-Il and his youngest son and likely successor Kim Jong-Un, television pictures showed.

The impoverished but nuclear-armed nation ostensibly staged the event to mark the ruling party's 65th anniversary but it seemed designed to showcase the start of the succession process.

The parade was held less than two weeks after Jong-Un was appointed a four-star general and given two powerful party posts.

North Korean TV showed Jong-Un, believed aged about 27, standing a few feet from his father along with other top officials, as thousands of goose-stepping troops marched past along with trucks carrying missiles and other weaponry. The BBC said it was the first time that foreign broadcasters had been allowed to transmit live footage from the giant central square in the showpiece capital.

In the South Korean capital Seoul, the man who once tutored the current leader before defecting in 1997 was found dead Sunday at his home, police said.

They gave no immediate details of the death of Hwang Jang-Yop, 87. News reports said Hwang, who fled to the South in 1997, may have suffered a heart attack.

Kim Jong-Il took over from his own father and founding president Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994. Kim Jong-Il suffered a stroke two years ago and since then has apparently speeded up plans to put a leader-in-waiting in place.

A bugle call signalled the start of the parade and the flag bearing the portrait of Kim Il-Sung was brought into the square, the North's official news agency reported.

"All the paraders looked up to the flag in the humblest reverence," it said.

The parade "held in grand style" involved the army, navy and air force of the 1.2- million-member military, it said, along with internal security forces, Worker-Peasant Red uards and Young Red Guards.

Leader Kim, dressed in his customary khaki tunic suit, occasionally applauded and raised his right hand to salute the troops. He was seen limping in his left leg.

Jong-Un, wearing a dark Mao-style suit, also clapped and saluted. A large crowd in the background of the parade held up objects shaped like floral bouquets in unison to make huge signs such as "the Workers' Party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" and "the 65th Anniversary".

The Swiss-educated Jong-Un remains a mystery to the outside world. Until late September his name had never been carried by official media nor had a photo of the chubby youth been issued.

On Friday, Yang Hyong-Sop, a senior North Korean official, officially confirmed the power succession plan, saying in an interview with the Associated Press Television News that the North Koreans have "the honour of serving the young General Kim Jong-Un".

The North's official news agency said Jong-Un, together with senior party and military officials including his father, visited the mausoleum containing the embalmed corpse of Kim Il-Sung at midnight Saturday. 

It listed Jong-Un immediately after the chief of the army's general staff and gave his new title of vice chairman of the party's central military commission.