TODAYOnline.com February 17, 2010
Birthday flower sign of power handover
SEOUL - North Korea celebrated Kim Jong Il's birthday yesterday with tens of thousands of flowers. The most intriguing blossom is a new variety of begonia sent on his son's birthday that may signify preparations for a succession.
Floral tributes arrived from China, Japan, Laos, Russia and Syria, the Korean Central News Agency reported this month.
A new breed of begonia delivered on the Jan 8 birthday of youngest son Kim Jong Un follows a pattern of using flowers to help legitimise the ruling family's power, according to Mr Paik Hak Soon, a director of inter-Korean relations at the South Korea-based Sejong Institute.
"North Korean leaders have used the flowers as a propaganda tool to glorify their leadership," Mr Paik said.
"The flower is an obvious sign that Kim Jong Il is preparing a handover," he said, adding that both Mr Kim and his father Kim Il Sung, who founded the nation, have their own designated blossoms.
Mr Kim's age is a matter of dispute. North Korea says he turned 68 yesterday, a year younger than the age given by international sources including globalsecurity.org.
Speculation over Mr Kim's successor has been rife since he suffered a stroke in August 2008.
Children across the impoverished nation received bags of sweets and biscuits as part of the celebrations, state media reported. A meeting on Monday of senior Communist party, army and state officials lauded Mr Kim "as the most outstanding political elder and the peerlessly brilliant commander of the present era".
In contrast to last year's birthday, when the North vowed to defy the world with a ballistic missile launch, the tone of the meeting was softer as the hardline regime grapples with economic woes.
No 2 leader Kim Yong Nam stressed the need to end hostile relations with the United States "through dialogue and negotiations", and noted a "steadfast" desire to improve inter-Korean relations and raise living standards.
The North's rocket launch in April last year brought international censure, causing it to quit six-party nuclear disarmament talks. It staged a second atomic weapons test in May and the United Nations responded with tighter sanctions.
On the heels of a poor harvest, a bungled currency revaluation last November reportedly intensified severe food shortages, sent prices soaring and fuelled unrest in the tightly controlled state.
Mr Paik said the North had toned down the rhetoric because it "is implementing a strategy for its survival and prosperity in the 21st century.
"What it needs as an 'exit' strategy is to improve ties with the US, Japan and South Korea, and then to get help from them to survive," he said.
Mr Paik said he expects North Korea and the US to hold talks on narrowing their differences early next month, with six-party talks resuming next month. AGENCIES
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