"The government follows the Juche ideology of self-reliance, initiated by the country's first President, Kim Il-sung. After his death, Kim Il-sung was declared the country's Eternal President. Juche became the official state ideology, replacing Marxism–Leninism, when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972...
World on edge as nuclear North Korea celebrates long-dead leader’s birthday
...North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il adopted Songun, or "military-first" policy in order to strengthen the country and its government.[18] North Korea is the world's most militarized country, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the 4th largest in the world, after China, the U.S., and India." -- Wikipedia (highlight added)
AFP - All eyes are on North Korea on Monday to see if it marks the birthday of late founder Kim Il-Sung with an expected missile launch, despite tension-reducing noises from Seoul and Washington.
North Korea has a habit of linking high-profile military tests with key dates in its annual calendar. The centenary of Kim’s birth last year was preceded by a long-range rocket test that ended in failure.
South Korean intelligence says the North has had two medium-range missiles primed and ready to fire for nearly a week, with many observers tapping Monday’s anniversary as a likely launch date.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, currently in Japan on the last leg of a whirlwind Northeast Asia tour, warned North Korea when he was in Seoul on Friday that a launch in the current climate would be a “huge mistake”.
The Korean peninsula has been in a state of heightened military tension since the North carried out its third nuclear test in February.
Incensed by fresh UN sanctions and joint South Korea-US military exercises, Pyongyang has spent weeks issuing blistering threats of missile strikes and nuclear war.
During his visits in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, Kerry talked tough on the North’s “unacceptable” rhetoric, but also sought to lower the temperature slightly by supporting a dialogue with Pyongyang and saying he would be prepared to reach out to North Korea.
He also urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to lead his country back to negotiations.
“We’re prepared to reach out, but we need the appropriate moment, appropriate circumstances,” Kerry said Sunday.
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Kerry: North Korea must stop 'bucking history and common sense'
updated 10:17 PM EDT, Sun April 14, 2013
(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that North Korea must stop "bucking the trend of history and common sense" in continuing with its nuclear program and that any unilateral action by the North "carries too great a cost" for the world to allow it.
Kerry spoke at the end of a three-day trip that focused on securing fresh commitments from South Korea, China and Japan for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and getting Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.
"The United States remains open to authentic and credible negotiations on denuclearization, but the burden is on Pyongyang," Kerry said in Tokyo. "Korea must take meaningful steps to show it will honor commitments it has already made" and the norms of international law.
Last month, North Korea scrapped the 1953 truce that effectively ended the Korean war and said it was nullifying the joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
It also recently pledged to restart its Yongbyon nuclear complex, including a uranium enrichment plant and a reactor that was shut down under an agreement reached in October 2007 during talks with North Korea, the United States, and four other countries.
"The world does not need more potential for war, so we will stand together. And we welcome China's strong commitment ... to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Kerry said.
read more at CNN
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