090409-North Korea Re-Elects Leader

North Korea Re-Elects Leader

North Korea announced on Thursday (April 9) its leader Kim Jong-il has been re-elected as chairman of the National Defence Commission.

North Korea planned to hold a meeting on Thursday for its newly elected assembly, expected to mark leader Kim Jong-il's return to centre stage where he will bask in the glory of what his state said was a triumphant rocket launch.

Kim, 67, has been conspicuously absent from major public events after his suspected stroke in August, which raised questions about his iron grip over the impoverished communist dynasty and the issue of a successor.

DPRK, standing for "Democratic People's Republic of Korea," is North Korea's official name.

North Korea's state-run television KRT made the announcement at 0300GMT, but has not yet shown any pictures of the assembly on Thursday.

Analysts said the carefully choreographed session of the rubber-stamp Supreme People's Assembly session would give Kim a mandate that cements his legacy of building a military-first state and could pave the way to transfer power to one of his three known sons, if he so chooses.

North Korea's propaganda machine has been carefully managing the re-emergence of Kim from his illness through dispatches about his field guidance tours to factories and military bases, while only showing still photographs of the visits.

It prepared the public for his full return by saying he was on hand Sunday (April 5) to watch the rocket launch. On Tuesday (April 7), it showed video footage of the launch on state TV followed by a documentary on Kim where the public saw recent video of him for the first time since his suspected stroke.

At the first session of the new parliament that sits for five years, there is expected to be a further reshuffling of the power apparatus with the National Defence Commission, which is the seat of power in the reclusive state, likely to be expanded in a way that further strengthens Kim, the commission chairman.

bask - derive or receive pleasure from; get enjoyment from; take pleasure in; "She relished her fame and basked in her glory"
conspicuously
adv. noticeably, in an obvious manner
dispatch - an official report (usually sent in haste)
reshuffle
v. rearrange, reorder; redistribute jobs within a company; ; rearrange the members of the cabinet