PYONGYANG: North Korea on Wednesday readied a
historic party conference to bolster its young new leader as the US demanded
the country call off a planned rocket launch in favour of a "better
future".
The
conference of the communist Workers' Party is expected formally to install Kim
Jong-Un, who succeeded his late father in December in nuclear-armed North
Korea's second dynastic succession, as party secretary-general.
It is
only the party's fourth-ever special conference and will kick off events
leading up to Sunday's 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founding
leader Kim Il-Sung, the new supremo's grandfather.
The
North's propaganda machine Wednesday cranked up tributes for Kim Jong-Un, who
is in his late 20s. The Workers' Party daily Rodong Sinmun, in an editorial,
acclaimed him as a "heaven-sent general and great leader".
"The
historic conference of the Korean Workers' Party that opens today will
demonstrate thoroughly the party and people's iron will and unwavering faith in
following the path of victory led by dear comrade Kim Jong-Un," it said.
Tens of
thousands in the tightly regimented state have been sprucing up the capital
Pyongyang for mass anniversary festivities. The centrepiece of the
commemoration is a rocket launch scheduled for between Thursday and Monday.
North
Korea says the rocket will propel a satellite into orbit to collect data on
forests and natural resources within its territory. But the West says it is a
disguised ballistic missile test, in violation of a United Nations ban.
China,
North Korea's sole diplomatic and economic patron, and Russia have also
expressed concern about the launch. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on
Tuesday said North Korea faced a clear choice.
"We
are consulting closely in capitals and at the United Nations in New York and we
will be pursuing appropriate action," she said at a news conference with
Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, who echoed her remarks.
"If
North Korea wants a peaceful, better future for their people, it should not
conduct another launch that would be a direct threat to regional
security," Clinton said.
Japanese
defence forces have deployed missile batteries in central Tokyo and dispatched
destroyers to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japan's territory.
Vessels
have been warned to stay out of shipping lanes that might fall under the
rocket's path, while at least three airlines -- Japan Airlines, All Nippon
Airways and Philippine Airlines -- are diverting some routes.
But
North Korea insists that the rocket poses no danger to countries in the region,
and says it has every right to launch the rocket.
"The
right to have a satellite is a universal right of every nation on this
planet," Ryu Kum-Chol, a senior member of the communist state's Committee
for Space Technology, said in a rare briefing for foreign journalists Tuesday.
"We
do not recognise any UN resolution that violates our sovereignty," he
said.
So far
Kim Jong-Un has been formally appointed to only one of his late father's posts
-- supreme commander of the 1.2-million-strong military, the world's fourth
largest.
The
promotion to party secretary-general would show he is more firmly in charge.
And an annual session of North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament on Friday could
elevate him to chairman of the National Defence Commission, the top
decision-making body that was previously chaired by Kim Jong-Il.
"Dear
comrade Kim Jong-Un is the highest leader of the party, military and the people
who is bringing the ideology and accomplishments of the great leaders Kim
Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il to a shiny completion," Rodong Sinmun said.
-AFP/ac
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