Kim Still Waiting in Wings in N. Korea

SEOUL — Tens of thousands of North Korean troops and civilians paid somber tribute to “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung on Monday, but the memorial ceremony left his son Kim Jong Il still waiting in the wings as crown prince.

North Korean television repeatedly zoomed in on the reclusive Kim Jong Il in live pictures beamed from a Pyongyang rally to mark the second anniversary of his father’s death.

Kim Jong Il has yet to inherit the titles of state president and secretary-general of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party left vacant when the man who ruled the Stalinist state for almost 50 years died of a heart attack.

The subdued ceremony projected a clear message that the Communist world’s first dynastic succession was on track, but official speeches gave no hint when Kim Jong Il would step up to the throne of the “Hermit Kingdom.”