FILE - In this April 25, 2002 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il claps from the balcony as soldiers salute him during a military parade, celebrating the foundation of the armed forces in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean television announced Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 in a "special broadcast" that its leader Kim Jong Il has died in Pyongyang. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara, File)
FILE - In this April 25, 2002 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il claps from the balcony as soldiers salute him during a military parade, celebrating the foundation of the armed forces in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean television announced Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 in a "special broadcast" that its leader Kim Jong Il has died in Pyongyang. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2010 file photo Kim Jong Un, right, along with his father and North Korea leader Kim Jong Il, left, attends during a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean television announced Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 in a "special broadcast" that its leader Kim Jong Il has died in Pyongyang. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? North Korea urged its 24 million people to rally behind heir-apparent Kim Jong Un after the death Monday of supreme leader Kim Jong Il, while the world watched warily for signs of instability in a nation pursuing nuclear weapons.
South Korea put its military on high alert, while President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed by phone to closely monitor the events in the North and cooperate.
People on the streets of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, broke into tears as they learned the news that Kim had died at the age 69 of heart failure.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the country "must faithfully revere respectable comrade Kim Jong Un." While there was no immediate statement on the country's official succession, there were clear indications that Kim Jong Un would be in charge.
The North said in a dispatch that the people and the military "have pledged to uphold the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un" and called him a "great successor" of the country's revolutionary philosophy of juche, or self reliance.
"At the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un, we have to change sadness to strength and courage and overcome today's difficulties," North Korea said.
Associated Pressandy rooney groupon ipo groupon ipo breeders cup 2011 gwar gwar san diego weather
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.