CASPER
New member
SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea decided to revise its constitution at a parliamentary meeting Thursday attended by leader Kim Jong-Il, his first appearance at a major public event since a reported stroke last August.
The inaugural meeting of the new Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) also re-elected Kim to the country's most powerful post, cementing his authority over the hardline communist state despite lingering questions about his health.
The parliament's move came four days after a rocket launch hailed at home as a historic scientific triumph but criticised abroad as a provocative missile test.
"Leader Kim Jong-Il was present at the session," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said after the first meeting of the SPA elected last month.
It said the legislators unanimously adopted a law "on revising and supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK (North Korea)" but gave no details.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the revision, the first for 11 years, may be a sign of political restructuring in anticipation of the leadership after Kim.
The 67-year-old, with a history of diabetes and heart problems, is not known to have nominated any successor.
He walked ten steps to the podium, limping slightly on his left leg and raised both hands while clapping, according to Yonhap, which monitored the North's TV broadcast.
In recent months state media has released a stream of photos -- along with moving images this week -- of Kim on his trademark "field guidance" tours in an apparent attempt to show he is fit and well.
Sunday's launch of what Pyongyang calls a satellite appeared timed to shore up support for Kim and his regime in the run-up to the SPA meeting.
It re-elected him as chairman of the National Defence Commission, which controls the 1.2 million member military, "amid the enthusiastic cheers of all those present," KCNA reported.
This was an expression of the people's "unquestioned support and trust in him," it said, adding that Kim "has performed immortal exploits to shine long in the history of the country."
Kim also promoted his brother-in-law Jang Song-Thaek as a member of the commission, Yonhap reported, in a sign of Jang's increasing influence.
Jang has accompanied the leader on more and more field trips in an apparent sign he is reinforcing his role as right-hand man.
The legislature also appointed cabinet members, vice-chairmen and members of the commission and other top officials, KCNA said without giving details.
It reviewed the state budget for 2008 and approved the 2009 spending plan.
KCNA Thursday released photos of the rocket two days after state television aired brief footage of the launch. The North says it put into orbit a communications satellite as part of a peaceful space programme.
The United States and its allies say there is no sign of the object in space and maintain the launch was in any case a disguised long-range missile test that violated United Nations resolutions.
"This launch is yet another step in the development of a North Korean long-range intercontinental ballistic missile," NATO ambassadors said in a statement after a meeting Wednesday.
"These irresponsible and provocative actions by Pyongyang pose a serious threat to the region and the international community at large."
The UN Security Council cannot agree how to handle the launch. Washington and its allies are pushing for a strong response but face opposition from China, Russia and others.
Pyongyang's deputy UN ambassador Pak Tok-Hun has warned of unspecified "strong steps" if his country is censured by the Security Council.
The North, which tested an atomic weapon in 2006, has previously said it will walk out of six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in response to any UN action.
The SPA is a rubber-stamp parliament but its first meeting is politically significant.
Elections to the 687-member body are normally held every five years but did not go ahead last summer amid Kim's reported health problems.
The inaugural meeting of the new Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) also re-elected Kim to the country's most powerful post, cementing his authority over the hardline communist state despite lingering questions about his health.
The parliament's move came four days after a rocket launch hailed at home as a historic scientific triumph but criticised abroad as a provocative missile test.
"Leader Kim Jong-Il was present at the session," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said after the first meeting of the SPA elected last month.
It said the legislators unanimously adopted a law "on revising and supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK (North Korea)" but gave no details.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the revision, the first for 11 years, may be a sign of political restructuring in anticipation of the leadership after Kim.
The 67-year-old, with a history of diabetes and heart problems, is not known to have nominated any successor.
He walked ten steps to the podium, limping slightly on his left leg and raised both hands while clapping, according to Yonhap, which monitored the North's TV broadcast.
In recent months state media has released a stream of photos -- along with moving images this week -- of Kim on his trademark "field guidance" tours in an apparent attempt to show he is fit and well.
Sunday's launch of what Pyongyang calls a satellite appeared timed to shore up support for Kim and his regime in the run-up to the SPA meeting.
It re-elected him as chairman of the National Defence Commission, which controls the 1.2 million member military, "amid the enthusiastic cheers of all those present," KCNA reported.
This was an expression of the people's "unquestioned support and trust in him," it said, adding that Kim "has performed immortal exploits to shine long in the history of the country."
Kim also promoted his brother-in-law Jang Song-Thaek as a member of the commission, Yonhap reported, in a sign of Jang's increasing influence.
Jang has accompanied the leader on more and more field trips in an apparent sign he is reinforcing his role as right-hand man.
The legislature also appointed cabinet members, vice-chairmen and members of the commission and other top officials, KCNA said without giving details.
It reviewed the state budget for 2008 and approved the 2009 spending plan.
KCNA Thursday released photos of the rocket two days after state television aired brief footage of the launch. The North says it put into orbit a communications satellite as part of a peaceful space programme.
The United States and its allies say there is no sign of the object in space and maintain the launch was in any case a disguised long-range missile test that violated United Nations resolutions.
"This launch is yet another step in the development of a North Korean long-range intercontinental ballistic missile," NATO ambassadors said in a statement after a meeting Wednesday.
"These irresponsible and provocative actions by Pyongyang pose a serious threat to the region and the international community at large."
The UN Security Council cannot agree how to handle the launch. Washington and its allies are pushing for a strong response but face opposition from China, Russia and others.
Pyongyang's deputy UN ambassador Pak Tok-Hun has warned of unspecified "strong steps" if his country is censured by the Security Council.
The North, which tested an atomic weapon in 2006, has previously said it will walk out of six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in response to any UN action.
The SPA is a rubber-stamp parliament but its first meeting is politically significant.
Elections to the 687-member body are normally held every five years but did not go ahead last summer amid Kim's reported health problems.