North Korea said yesterday that its new leader, Kim Jong-un, has formally been appointed supreme military commander, another sign he is tightening his grip on power, as it renewed vitriolic attacks on Seoul.
Kim Jong-un had already been declared “supreme leader” of the country during memorial ceremonies for his late father, Kim Jong-il, on Thursday, as the nation ended 13 days of mourning.
“The dear respected Kim Jong-un ... assumed the supreme commandership of the Korean People’s Army at the behest of leader Kim Jong-il,” the official news agency said.
It said the decision was proclaimed on Friday at a meeting of the political bureau of the ruling communist party’s central committee.
Kim Jong-un, aged in his late 20s, inherits the world’s fourth-largest armed forces of 1.2 million and a national policy known as “Songun” that prioritizes their needs over those of civilians.
UN agencies say a quarter of the population urgently needs food aid, the ailing economy is struggling with shortages of power and raw materials and a nuclear and missile program has brought international sanctions.
However, the regime stressed on Friday it would not change course.
We “solemnly declare with confidence that the south Korean puppets and foolish politicians around the world should not expect any change,” said a statement from the National Defense Commission, the top decisionmaking body.
The North said it would never have dealings with the conservative South Korean government, which it designates as “traitors,” and harshly criticized Seoul for perceived slights during the mourning process for Kim Jong-il.
“We will surely force the group of traitors to pay for its hideous crimes committed at the time of the great national misfortune,” it said.
Pyongyang renewed the attack yesterday, threatening to “settle accounts” with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s government unless it apologizes for the alleged insults.
“He [Lee] is the worst type of anti-reunification element, traitor and pro-US fascist maniac steeped in extreme bitterness toward compatriots and confrontation hysteria to the marrow of his bones,” the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement.
The North “is left with no option but to finally settle accounts with the Lee group unless it apologizes for the above-said crimes,” it said.
Despite the bellicose language, analysts said that the North was trying to close ranks against a purported enemy and warning the world against any interference during the transition.
They said the chance of any provocation was low in the near future. Lee’s government expressed sympathy for North Korea’s people, but not the regime after Kim Jong-il’s death and allowed only two private mourning delegations to visit Pyongyang.
Activists launched propaganda leaflets across the border into the North on the day of Kim’s funeral. Seoul says it cannot legally ban the launches.
Kim Jong-un was made a four-star general in September and given important party posts as his father groomed him for the country’s second dynastic succession.
He was swiftly proclaimed “great successor” after Kim Jong-il reportedly died of a heart attack on Dec. 17 at the age of 69.
North Korea also announced that it would issue gold and silver coins to mark the 20th anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s appointment as military commander.
It said that the coins would mark the former leader’s “immortal achievements” of making the country an invincible nuclear-armed military power.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion