Burmese Media Carry Birthday Tribute to Kim Jong Il

By THE IRRAWADDY

A full page birthday tribute to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been approved by Burma’s capricious censors for publication in Burmese news weeklies.

The tribute, honoring the North Korean leader on his 67th birthday and describing him as "a great strategist and peerless statesman," appeared in the latest issue of Rangoon weekly The Voice, and will also be carried by other journals when they appear on Wednesday.

Rangoon-based journalists said the tribute had been paid for by the North Korean embassy.

The birthday message declared: "Kim Jong Il stands in the van of the Korean army and people, wisely leading their efforts to build a powerful nation, by giving full scope to his inexhaustible energy."

North Korea’s state media, the Korean Central News Agency, reported that streets, bridges and buildings throughout the country were festooned with flowers and other decorations to mark Monday’s anniversary. North Korea was overflowing with "warm wishes" for the leader, the agency said.

The world's most secretive country also vowed to press ahead with test-firing what observers believe is a long-range missile, portraying it as part of a space program. The plan has awakened new concerns about North Korea’s strategic ambitions as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton heads for Asia for meetings with leaders of Japan, China, South Korea and Indonesia. She arrived in Tokyo Monday evening.

Last year, Kim Jong Il suffered a stroke, raising questions about a possible succession and also questioning who is responsible for decisions on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Kim's health has since appeared to improve, and he met with a Chinese envoy last month.

Burma and North Korea restored diplomatic ties in 2007, ending a freeze in relations that began when North Korean special agents assassinated 18 South Korean officials, including four cabinet ministers, during a visit they were making to Burma in 1983.

In April, the Japanese NHK public broadcaster reported that North Korea had been selling rocket launchers to Burma in violation of UN sanctions imposed against Pyongyang after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006.

Military ties between Burma and North Korea are said to have been reestablished in 1999 when members of the Burmese junta paid a low-profile visit to the rogue state.

The junta sent a delegation to North Korea secretly again in November 2000 for a meeting with high-ranking military officials there. A North Korean delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Park Kil-yon met with his Burmese counterpart, Khin Maung Win, in June 2001.

Military analysts say the North Korean regime has provided Burma with weapons, military technology transfers and expertise in underground tunneling used for concealing secret military installations and, since 2002, dozens of North Korean technicians have worked for the tatmadaw, the Burmese armed forces.