N.Korea troops pledge loyalty en masse as Seoul on alert

Source:AFP-Global Times Published: 2013-12-17 0:41:00

This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center) visiting a fisheries station under Korean Peoples' Army 313 Unit. Kim spent a whirlwind weekend making public appearances around the country which analysts said were intended to demonstrate his firm grip on power following the execution of his uncle (see story on page 2). Photo: AFP/KCNA via KNS

North Korean troops Monday pledged to defend leader Kim Jong-un with their lives after his uncle was executed for an alleged plot, as South Korea put its forces on alert for any "reckless provocations."

The mass rally in Pyongyang came ahead of Tuesday's second anniversary of the death of longtime leader Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un.

State TV showed thousands of troops marching in a large square outside the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the embalmed bodies of the country's founder Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

"Let's become rifles and shields to safeguard the supreme commander!" they chanted during a rally.

The purge of Jang Song-thaek prompted Seoul and the US to warn that vigilance is needed against any surprises by the nuclear-armed regime.

The South's President Park Geun-hye called a meeting of top defense and national security officials on Monday.

"Given the latest development in the North, it is uncertain in what direction its political situation would evolve," she told the meeting.

"We also can't rule out the possibility of contingencies such as reckless provocations," she said, urging the military to step up vigilance along the heavily fortified border.

On Monday, thousands of North Korean propaganda leaflets fell on the frontline island of Baengnyeong warning of an attack on South Korean soldiers stationed there, reported the South's Yonhap news agency.

The South's military declined to confirm the report.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday called the latest purge "an ominous sign" raising concerns of instability in the impoverished but nuclear-armed state.

Asked about how Jang's purge would affect the situation in North Korea on the sidelines of a seminar in Beijing on Monday, China's foreign minister Wang Yi said there are some changes in the North, and China is further observing Pyongyang's domestic and foreign policies.

"We hope and we believe there won't be significant changes," Wang said, according to the China News Service.

Jang was seen as playing a key role in bolstering the leadership of the young Kim.

The latest purge in the North was carried out in an extraordinarily public and dramatic manner, with Pyongyang releasing images of Jang being dragged out of a party meeting.

Another image showed a handcuffed Jang, with bruises on his face and hands, being held by uniformed guards at the military tribunal that sentenced him to death.

Pyongyang labeled him a drug-addicted womanizer who frequented foreign casinos with embezzled state funds.

Park last week criticized what she called a "reign of terror" in the North to bolster Kim's leadership.

The North on Sunday angrily slammed her reaction, calling it an "intolerable provocation."


Posted in: Asia-Pacific

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