North Korea’s Kim takes a public bow

There was pomp and circumstance, huge adoring crowds -- not to mention one heck of a lot of choreographed propaganda.

A frail-looking Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s paternal “Dear Leader,” appeared Thursday before the newly elected Supreme People’s Assembly, which reappointed him as the nation’s reigning military chief.

The 67-year-old leader, who reportedly suffered a stroke last year, bringing rumors of a possible succession, has turned North Korea “into an invincible political and ideological, military and scientific and technological power,” trumpeted the government-controlled Korean Central News Agency.

A photograph released Wednesday by North Korea shows thousands of smiling celebrants in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square. Many are dressed in traditional Korean clothing. All are clapping in unison under a banner that reads “Hurray for Great Victory of Songun [Military First] Politics.”

Kim’s reappointment comes amid tension on the Korean peninsula, as the international community seeks unison in responding to Pyongyang’s launching of a rocket Sunday in spite of calls for restraint.

The United States, Japan and South Korea have turned to the United Nations Security Council to seek a rebuke of the launch, while members China and Russia have urged caution.

U.S. intelligence reports have characterized the test of an experimental communications satellite as a failure, saying the craft didn’t reach orbit and splashed into the Pacific.

The regime’s PR machine has told the North Korean public that the launch of the Kwangmyongsong No. 2 satellite was a total success.

North Korea’s state-run TV rebroadcast video of Sunday’s rocket launch, interspersed with undated photos of Kim meeting with citizens and observing bears at a zoo.

Kim was also reported to have watched the satellite launch.

But one North Korean defector called the public events staged.

“People do not join voluntarily. If the party calls them to the rally, they are obligated to attend,” Hyun In-ae, 53, a former professor who escaped in 2004, said of the celebrations.

The Supreme People’s Assembly, elected last month, had been expected to rubber-stamp Kim’s grip on power, including control of the isolationist regime’s 1-million-strong military.

But questions about a succession of power remain after Kim reportedly suffered the stroke in August. Many analysts believe Kim is leaning toward handing the reins to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.

“Many elites in Pyongyang believe that a successful rocket launch was a prelude to a change of power,” said Young Howard, who runs a Seoul radio station that broadcasts into North Korea. “They think that Kim will say the launch was guided by his son and that he deserves to step up to power.”

Analysts say Kim will continue to insist that his satellite is orbiting Earth, beaming back patriotic music to the faithful.

“North Korea gives a sense of stability to its people when saying that things like the rocket protect people from threats by the United States,” said Lee Woo-young, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “The rocket launch was a political ad which I think had some effects domestically and internationally.”

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john.glionna@latimes.com