NKorea tribute to 'eternal leader'

State media paid numerous tributes to the 'immortal' leader

North Korea's state media bombarded the people on Thursday with images of and eulogies to the country's founding leader Kim Il-sung on the 10th anniversary of his death.

Referring to the man who died in 1994 after 46 years in power, television, radio and newspapers all carried praise of "The Great Leader".

Viewers of state TV witnessed an impressive ceremony broadcast live from Pyongyang's indoor stadium, with a backdrop of a picture of a huge flag, and the face of the great leader smiling benignly over the massed ranks of dignitaries.

Solemn atmosphere

The official KCNA news agency said the country "was wrapped in a most solemn atmosphere" and that the stadium was "pervaded with the unbounded reverence and intense loyalty of the servicemen of the Korean People's Army and people to the father of the nation".

The agency went on to say that Kim senior had "performed immortal exploits for the country and people, the times and humankind".

It also reported a new issue of stamps featuring pictures of the late president smiling and waving to a crowd of "cheerful" children. One of the stamps is inscribed: "The great leader comrade Kim Il-sung will always be with us."

State radio broadcast a speech by the army chief who described Kim as "an ever-victorious, iron-willed commander and peerless legendary hero".

"Our army and people were able to overcome the bitter grief over the sudden loss of the great parent of the nation and achieve a brilliant victory in the battle to defend socialism with an indomitable will."

The army chief lauded "the respected and beloved comrade supreme commander" whom he said had "built with guns a country in bloody tears, created the history of 100 victories with guns, and opened the golden age of the fatherland's prosperity".

Another radio bulletin reported the numerous tributes to Kim Il-sung which it said had poured in from home and abroad, including a floral tribute from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Devotion

There was also no shortage of devotion in Rodong Sinmun, the official paper of the ruling Workers' Party.

An editorial praised Kim Il-sung's "immortal" work in ushering "the new era of Juche-oriented revolution" or self-reliance, which became the guiding philosophy of North Korea's development.

Describing him as "the invincible" and the "iron-willed commander", it said he had "worked hard to bring a bright future of a rich and powerful country till the last moments of his great life".

The paper also praised his son and successor. "The respected and beloved Comrade Kim Jong-il is leading all of us to the single road of all victories under the military-first banner. There will be only victory and glory in the road ahead of military-first DPRK where the sun of Juche shines brilliantly," it said.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.