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North Korea's Kim rallies hundreds of top brass as UN prepares censure
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il rallied hundreds of top military commanders as world powers pushed for a U.N. censure of his government amid mounting speculation the North was preparing to detonate an atomic bomb. Media reports have speculated a nuclear test could come Sunday, the anniversary of Kim's appointment as head of the Korean Workers' Party in 1997. Japan said it was stepping up monitoring of North Korea in light of the speculation.

“Officers greeted him with rousing cheers of 'Fight at the cost of our lives!'”
With tensions rising, North Korea's Kim met his top brass and urged them to bolster the nation's defenses, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Officers greeted him with rousing cheers of "Fight at the cost of our lives!" North Korean state television aired still shots of the bouffant-haired leader waving to an assembled crowd of about 500 olive-suited officers in dress caps. Kim later posed for a group photo with his commanders in front of Pyongyang's sprawling mausoleum for his father and national founder, Kim Il Sung.

The meeting was the reclusive leader's first reported appearance in three weeks and the first since Tuesday when his government shocked the world by announcing plans to test a nuclear device on its way to building an arsenal of atomic weapons. It was unclear when the rally took place, or how many attended, but it could show that Kim is trying to polish his credentials with the country's cherished military at a time when international pressure is mounting on Pyongyang.
Posted by: Fred 2006-10-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=167947