(AP) Seoul – The country also said it will erect a new Kim Jong Il statue and build “towers to his immortality,” while state media called him “eternal leader” and gave his birthday a new title that underlines his military-first policy and links him more closely to his father, Kim Il Sung, who is still revered as the “eternal president.”
The North’s state media have sought since Kim Jong Il’s death on Dec. 17 to show his son, Kim Jong Un, as a strong, confident military leader, but outside observers are watching to see if he can impose his will over the military and government as strongly as his father did during 17 years of absolute rule.
