North Korea's heir appears at key celebration

PYONGYANG, North Korea - The presumptive next leader of North Korea from the only ruling family the isolated nation has known made his public debut yesterday, clapping and smiling as tanks and rocket launchers rolled past in what was said to be the largest military parade staged by the communist state.

Two weeks after he was made a four-star general and set on the path to succession, Kim Jong Un sat on an observation platform next to his father, current leader Kim Jong Il, and waved to a raucous crowd cheering below.

The celebration marked the 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party, which rules the impoverished nation of 24 million. The younger Kim's appearance was designed, outside experts on North Korea said, to introduce him to his people and burnish his image as the next authoritarian leader. A small group of foreign journalists was allowed into North Korea for the ceremonies.

The South Korean government believes the younger Kim to be 26.

"The parade served as a sign that the military has loyalty to the successor," said Kim Yong-hyun, an expert on North Korea at Seoul's Dongguk University.

The sentiment was echoed by Donald Gregg, former ambassador to South Korea and chairman emeritus of the Korea Society in Manhattan. "It's very strong symbolism as they launch the third man in the family," Gregg told Bloomberg News. "This kind of show of force is the one thing they can do - they don't have much else to demonstrate."

Troops from every branch of the 1.2 million-member military goose-stepped, and trucks loaded with Katyusha rocket launchers rolled by, but they were dwarfed by a series of missiles emblazoned with: "Defeat the U.S. military. U.S. soldiers are the Korean People's Army's enemy."

Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that the parade included three never-before-shown types of missiles, including one thought to have a range of 3,100 miles, capable of hitting Japan and Guam.

Meanwhile, activists protested the succession plan along the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. Activists also sent 20,000 leaflets packed with $1 bills and CDs carrying anti-Kim Jong Un rap songs floating across the border.

With Bloomberg News