The official Korean Central
News Agency said the event at the army's Unit 10215 was attended by senior
military and party officials, including parliamentary head Kim Yong-Nam, often
regarded as a ceremonial head of state.
State television footage showed
huge balloons with banners floating alongside the bronze statue of the late
leader standing and smiling, one of them reading "Solidarity with all our
minds".
The personality cult
surrounding North Korea's ruling family is akin to a state religion, and there
are statues across the country of founding leader Kim Il-Sung and his son
Jong-Il.
In April, towering statues of
the two Kims together were unveiled in Pyongyang, soon after a failed rocket
launch that had been condemned by the United States as an attempted ballistic
missile test.
Kim Il-Sung died in 1994 after
bequeathing power to Jong-Il, who suffered a fatal heart attack last December
and was succeeded by his son, Jong-Un.
The new leader was not present
at Tuesday's ceremony, which included pledges of loyalty from the massed ranks
of troops.
"Let's protect comrade Kim
Jong-Un with our lives," General Kim Won-Hong, a Central Military
Commission member, said in a speech greeted with cheers by the soldiers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment