[UPDATES] North Korean leader given new top party title

By Park Sae-jin Posted : May 10, 2016, 10:45 Updated : May 10, 2016, 16:24

North Koreans march with the Workers' Party symbol and the words under it which read "Long Live the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea" during a parade at the Kim Il Sung Square on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans celebrated the country's newly completed ruling-party congress with a massive civilian parade featuring floats bearing patriotic slogans and marchers with flags and pompoms. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) [Yonhap Photo]


Tens of thousands of marchers waved paper flowers Tuesday, turning a giant square in Pyongyang into a sea of red and pink, during a massive parade presided over by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The parade, broadcast live by North Korea's state television, was staged on the Kim Il-sung square at the center of Pyongyang to celebrate Kim's election as supreme party leader at a four-day ruling party congress that ended on Monday.
 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves at parade participants at the Kim Il Sung Square on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans celebrated the country's newly completed ruling-party congress with a massive civilian parade featuring floats bearing patriotic slogans and marchers with flags and pompoms. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) [Yonhap Photo]


Kim was seen wearing a black Mao suit and glasses as he watched from a viewing platform overlooking the square, waving his hands sporadically towards massed marchers who congratulated him with enthusiastic chants of "Mansei (Long Live)!".

Some marchers carried cardboard missile mock-ups, and crowds standing on the center stage of the square held up placards with slogans such as "Glory to Kim Jong-un!".

The parade came hours after North Korea announced a partial change in its ruling party structure and membership, honouring its autocratic leader with a new top title to consolidate his absolute power.

The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) has wrapped up its rare four-day congress which kicked off last Friday amid strong international pressure and sanctions triggered by North Korea's defiant push for nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The young leader was given a new title of "WPK chairmanship", which was once used by his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, who founded the communist country in 1948 after the Korean peninsula was split at the end of World War II.

Kim has secured various top titles such as WPK first secretary since he took power in December 2011 following the death of his father Kim Jong-il, but the country's highest posts including presidency have been reserved for his father and grandfather.
 

Parade participants beat drums as they march on the Kim Il Sung Square on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans celebrated the country's newly completed ruling-party congress with a massive civilian parade featuring floats bearing patriotic slogans and marchers with flags and pompoms. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) [Yonhap Photo]


The high-profile political event in Pyongyang has been closely watched by outsiders to see if there would be any change in North Korea's policy and party structure.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim was upheld as WPK chairman and supreme leader after the party revised its rules to set up a new post.

KCNA released the line-up of newly elected members of the party's politburo and central committee, but many old guards retained their membership. A new political affairs bureau called "Executive Policy Bureau" was set up under Kim's command.

Analysts said there have been little signs of change so far at the first party gathering since October 1980, with Kim using it to extract absolute support and loyalty from party members.

"The new title means that Kim was officially upheld as the party's top and legitimate leader to open his era," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Kim opened the congress by hailing North Korea's nuclear and long-range rocket tests earlier this year as demonstrating its "dignity and power at the highest level".

He vowed to maintain his policy of developing nuclear weapons and economic development simultaneously, describing North Korea as a "responsible" nuclear state.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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