Kim, sister and son watch drill, says KCNA

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s heir apparent, watched an army drill in the presence of his father and the country’s leader, Kim Jong-il, Pyongyang’s media said yesterday - the first time the son has been officially noted as accompanying his father.

Also present at the drill by Unit 851 of the Korean People’s Army was Kim Jong-il’s 64-year-old sister, Kim Kyong-hui, who was promoted last week to a general, the Korean Central News Agency said. Kim Jong-un was also made a four-star general and given major political posts, signaling his emergence as heir apparent.

The report did not say when or where the drill took place.

As soon as the 68-year-old leader ordered the start of the drill, “various ground guns showed powerful fire while units moved in close harmony to annihilate enemies,” KCNA said. The North considers South Korea and the United States as its enemies.

Kim Jong-un, the third son of Kim Jong-il, was mentioned in the report after Ri Yong-ho, chief of the general staff who became a Presidium member of the Politburo last week during the country’s biggest party convention in three decades. Kim Yong-chun, the defense minister, and Jang Song-thaek, a vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, watched the drill as well, the report said.

Yonhap