hankyoreh

By Son Won-je, Staff Writer

A memorial banquet organized by the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Military Commission (CMC) and the North Korean National Defense Commission (NDC) was held Friday, with Kim Jong-il in attendance, to mark the 19th anniversary of Kim’s election as supreme military commander of the armed forces, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday. Also attending the banquet was Kim’s successor and son, CMC Vice Chairman Kim Jong-un.
North Korea has held yearly central report meetings since Kim’s 1991 election as supreme commander of the armed forces at the 19th plenary session of the sixth term of the WPK. However, the only time a celebratory banquet was reported was in 2001, the tenth anniversary. That banquet was organized by the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, and Kim Jong-il did not attend.
Analysts say the fact that the banquet was held in a year that was not a multiple-of-five anniversary, co-organized by the CMC, and attended by Kim himself indicates that the step was taken to enhance Kim Jong-un’s prestige as a successor.

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