North Korea marked the 68th birthday of its “peerlessly brilliant” leader Kim Jong-il yesterday, calling for dialogue with the US in contrast to tough talk a year ago.
Children across the impoverished nation received bags of sweets and biscuits, and the birthday has been marked by a synchronized swimming display and a festival celebrating the national “Kimjongilia” flower, state media reported.
A meeting on Monday of senior communist party, army and state officials lauded Kim “as the most outstanding political elder and the peerlessly brilliant commander of the present era.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
Kim is habitually referred to as the “Dear leader.”
In contrast to last year’s birthday, when the North threatened South Korea and vowed to defy the world with a ballistic missile launch, the tone of the meeting was softer as the hardline regime grapples with economic woes.
No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam stressed the need to end hostile relations with the US “through dialogue and negotiations,” and noted a “steadfast” desire to improve inter-Korean relations and raise living standards.
The North’s rocket launch last April brought international censure, causing it to quit six-party nuclear disarmament talks.
It staged a second atomic weapons test in May, and the UN responded with tighter sanctions which have hampered lucrative weapons exports.
On the heels of a poor harvest, a bungled currency revaluation in November reportedly intensified severe food shortages, sent prices soaring and fueled unrest in the tightly controlled state.
Kim, who was shaken by a stroke in August 2008, is widely reported to be preparing for the eventual succession of his youngest son, Kim Jong-un.
Under pressure from ally China, the North in recent months has expressed readiness to return to nuclear talks. But first it wants sanctions lifted and a US commitment to discuss a formal peace treaty — conditions rejected by Washington.
Paik Haksoon, of Seoul’s private Sejong Institute think tank, said the North had toned down the rhetoric because it “is implementing a strategy for its survival and prosperity in the 21st century.”
“What it needs as an ‘exit’ strategy is to improve ties with the United States, Japan and South Korea, and then to get help from them to survive,” Paik said.
“North Korea needs to supply ample consumer goods to enhance the living standards of people and pave the way for becoming a ‘powerful and prosperous nation’ — as pledged,” he said.
Paik said he expects North Korea and the US to hold talks on narrowing their differences early next month, with the six-party talks resuming later in March.
Across the border, defectors and other activists launched 20,000 balloon-borne leaflets into the North denouncing Kim on his birthday.
“Our campaign is to tell our northern brothers that Kim Jong-il is not an idol but a dictator who deprived them of freedom,” protest leader Park Sang-hak told reporters as the balloons were released near the heavily fortified frontier.
Kim is the subject of an intense personality cult. Official accounts say he was born on Mount Paektu, a sacred site for Koreans, with a double rainbow and a bright star marking the event. Most analysts believe he was in fact born in Siberia, where his father was in exile from Japanese colonizers.
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