N. Korea commemorates late leader's 70th birthday

Kim Jong Un, wearing a dark Mao-style suit and a solemn expression, bowed deeply before a large portrait of his smiling father in Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, the capital. Hundreds of senior officials, military leaders and citizens followed to pay their respects.

Outside the palace, a huge crowd of North Korean soldiers lined up in neat rows on a sunny but frigid day, listening to speeches praising the Kim family. Later, the new leader and other officials watched as goose-stepping soldiers marched by, followed by military jeeps and trucks carrying artillery guns and rocket launchers. Fireworks exploded, military music boomed and people waved artificial pink and red flowers.

Kim Jong Il ruled with an iron fist for 17 years, a period that included a famine in the 1990s that killed hundreds of thousands of people and protracted tensions over the nation's drive to build nuclear weapons. Food shortages persist in North Korea and relations with South Korea are at their lowest point in years. But since Kim's death two months ago, expressions of mourning and adoration have been common in Pyongyang.

After the funeral, Kim Jong Un was named supreme commander of the country's 1.2 million-member military. State media and officials have praised Kim Jong Il as a strong but benevolent leader, while calling Kim Jong Un the unquestioned choice to succeed him in this socialist nation of 24 million.

“We will faithfully uphold the 'military-first' leadership of our respected supreme commander and comrade with our guns,” military General Staff chief Ri Yong Ho said in a speech.

“Let's dedicate our lives to protect Kim Jong Un!” troops in the plaza roared.

At Kim Il Sung Square, the main plaza in the capital, North Koreans bowed and laid flowers, including red “kimjongilia” begonias, at a portrait of Kim Jong Il hanging on the Grand People's Study House. Among them was Paek Won Chol, who described himself as a “soldier and disciple” of Kim Jong Il.

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