N. Korea’s Kim Celebrates His 80th Birthday
President Kim Il Sung marked his 80th birthday Wednesday presiding over displays of fireworks and mass gymnastics, and he derided critics gloating over the downfall of socialism abroad.
“Although imperialists and reactionaries are gloating noisily over the crumbling of socialism in some countries as if humanity’s cause of independence had been completely foiled, history will inevitably develop along the road of independence to which the masses of people aspire,” Kim said.
Speaking at a banquet in his honor attended by Chinese President Yang Shangkun and several Third World leaders, Kim voiced regret that Korea is still divided nearly 50 years after World War II. But he said reunification prospects are bright.
The banquet came toward the end of a gala day for North Korea’s Stalinist leader, one for which the populace had been preparing for months.
At Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Stadium, rain delayed a birthday spectacle for an hour.
Kim, who founded the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948, looked fit and young for his years.
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