Kim Jong Il assumed power after his father's death, though he did not assume his father's title of president. -- PHOTO: AP
PYONGYANG (North Korea) - A THIN-looking Kim Jong Il made a rare public appearance on Wednesday as North Korea paid solemn respects to his father, the country's late founder, on the 15th anniversary of his death.
The memorial was the second major state event that the 67-year-old Mr Kim has attended in person since reportedly suffering a stroke last summer. In early April, he presided over a parliamentary meeting where he was re-elected as leader.
Footage from broadcaster APTN showed Mr Kim dressed in a khaki suit, looking more gaunt and with less hair than in April. As in April, he limped slightly while walking into the packed Pyongyang auditorium in what is believed to be an effect from the stroke.
Mr Kim's health has sparked concerns about instability and a power struggle if he were to die without naming a successor. His third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, has widely been reported as being groomed as heir, but the regime has made no announcement to the outside world.
Wednesday's memorial came after the North conducted a number of banned ballistic missile tests last weekend, fuelling tensions already running high after Pyongyang's second nuclear test on May 25 led to punishing UN sanctions.
Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder, died of heart failure on July 8, 1994 at the age of 82. He ran the communist country with an iron grip and was the object of an intense personality cult.
The North's Korean Central News Agency reported on Wednesday that the younger Kim visited the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang accompanied by top military generals. Kim Il Sung's embalmed body lies in the palace.
Kim Jong Il and the military figures 'paid homage to President Kim Il Sung,' KCNA said, without elaborating.
Kim Jong Il assumed power after his father's death, though he did not assume his father's title of president. He runs North Korea from his post as chairman of the National Defense Commission.
Interest in political succession in North Korea has intensified because the country has carried out two underground nuclear tests since 2006. -- AP
