N. Korean leader Kim re-elected to parliament

[March 09, 2009]  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Kim Jong Il was unanimously re-elected to North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament, state media said Monday, in elections closely watched for signs of a political shift or hints the autocratic leader is grooming a successor.

Turnout Sunday was 99.98 percent, with all voters backing the sole candidate running in their constituency, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

Observers will be analyzing the list of legislators for clues as to how Kim and the ruling elite will govern the communist nation over the next five years, and any signs he is grooming a successor.

Kim's third son, Kim Jong Un, reportedly ran for a seat Sunday in what analysts say would be a strong sign he is poised to inherit power. The 26-year-old is the youngest of the leader's three known sons and is said to be his father's favorite.

Kim, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke last August, around the time the elections were due to be held. North Korea denies he was ill and did not provide a reason for the poll delayed to March.

The new assembly is expected to convene in early April to reconfirm Kim as leader in his capacity as chairman of the all-powerful National Defense Commission. Analysts say the North may then push ahead with a long-range missile test to celebrate.

North Korea has said in recent weeks that it is powering ahead with plans to send a communications satellite into orbit -- a launch regional powers fear is a cover for a long-range Taepodong-2 missile capable of striking Alaska.

On Monday, the country ordered its armed forces on standby and warned it will retaliate against anyone seeking to block its launch plan. The threat came hours after South Korea and the U.S. kicked off their annual military drills, which the North has condemned as a rehearsal for an invasion.

Elections in North Korea are largely a formality since candidates are widely believed to be hand-picked by Kim and the ruling Workers' Party, and only one candidate runs in each constituency.

North Korea's parliament meets only a few times a year to rubber-stamp bills vetted by the ruling party. But lawmakers also fill key party, government and military posts, making the list of legislators a telling indicator of how Kim's third term will take shape, analysts say.

KCNA traditionally provides a list of legislators around noon the day after the poll. But a report late Monday from KCNA said only that 686 lawmakers were elected, without providing their names.

The past two elections have resulted in significant turnover. The 1998 balloting was Kim's formal ascension to power; he had inherited the country's leadership upon his father's death four years earlier but waited for the poll to clear out nearly two-thirds of the assembly's lawmakers.

Experts predict Kim will fill the incoming assembly with technocrats and finance-savvy figures capable of reviving the country's shattered economy as the nation faces international pressure to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.

[Associated Press; By HYUNG-JIN KIM]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.