Kim Jong-il's birthday remembered

  • 12 years ago
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North Korea's military pledged its 'endless' loyalty to the Kim dynasty on Thursday (February 16) as the reclusive state commemorated their late leader Kim Jong-il's 70th birth anniversary.

Kim Jong-il's birthday on February 16 has been labelled as "Day of the Shining Star".

The North's state-run television KRT broadcasted a military gathering held in the square of Kumsusan Sun Palace, where Kim's body is laid along with his father, the state's founder Kim Il-sung.

North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un, who is now ruling the state's some 1.2 million troops as supreme commander, observed the military event with high-ranking officials and massive military parade.

The young leader Jong-un, believed to be 27 or 28-years-old, took over the communist country and was named the "Great Successor" after his father's death last December.

The North's military has vowed it will continue with Kim Jong-il's "songun", or military-first, policy and has called on its people to rally behind the young Kim.

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