Parade, tributes mark 70th birthday of late North Korean leader

Feb 16, 2012, 12:25 GMT

Seoul - North Korea celebrated what would have been the 70th birthday of its leader Kim Jong Il Thursday with a parade presided over by his son and successor, Kim Jong Un.

The son and top officials watched the military parade in a Pyongyang square filled with thousands of people to honor Kim Jong Il, who died two months ago, state television showed.

Soldiers saluted both Kims and pledged their loyalty to the new leader, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

They stood on a platform bedecked with Kimjongilias, the red begonias named after the late leader, outside Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim Jong Il's body has been displayed since December and where the body of his father and North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, has lain.

Kim Jong Il's birthday is a holiday known as the Day of the Shining Star in North Korea, a Stalinist state that has promoted a cult of personality around the three members of the Kim family who have now ruled it.

State television showed Kim Jong Un visiting the mausoleum and paying respects to his father Thursday while soldiers and civilians did the same at giant portraits of a smiling Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.

The parade capped a week of honours for Kim Jong Il, who died December 17 of a heart attack at 69, according to state media.

He was promoted to generalissimo, the same title held by his father, state media said Wednesday, and 6-metre statues of him and his father riding horses were unveiled Tuesday.

Observers said the honours for Kim Jong Il were an attempt to cement the transfer of power to Kim Jong Un, who is believed to be in his late 20s and had little time to prepare before being handed the reins of power.

They proceeded another big birthday approaching in North Korea. It is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth on April 15. His birthday is the biggest holiday in North Korea and is known as the Day of the Sun.