N. Korean leader, heir-apparent son attend military concert celebrating outcome of China trip

SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his heir-apparent son attended a military concert celebrating the outcome of his recent trip to China, Pyongyang's official news agency said Sunday.
Kim returned home from a weeklong trip to China last week that included talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. It was the reclusive leader's third trip to the neighboring ally and key provider of aid in about a year, and the seventh since 2000.
The concert featuring music and dance by the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Korean People's Internal Security Forces marked the first time that a celebratory event has been held over Kim's Chinese trips since 2000.
"As Kim Jong Il appeared in the auditorium of the theater, the audience enthusiastically welcomed him, offering the deepest respect and the warmest congratulations to him," the KCNA said.
The KCNA lauded Kim's "energetic foreign activities day and night through more than 6,000 km-long trip," saying the visit "made an undying contribution to the development of the DPRK-China friendship and the prosperity of the socialist country." DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name.
Kim "acknowledged the enthusiastic cheers of the audience and extended a warm salute to the whole army and all the people of the country who are waging a dynamic drive to build a great prosperous and powerful nation," the KCNA said.
His youngest son and heir-apparent, Kim Jong-un, attended the concert along with other members of the ruling elite, the KCNA said.
From May 20-26, Kim visited an automaker, IT companies, a solar energy company and a large discount store as well as a top electronics company as he traveled across China's northeastern region and prosperous eastern areas before reaching Beijing.
In talks with the Chinese president, Kim said Pyongyang is "concentrating its attention and resources on economic development, and it is in great need of a stable neighboring environment," China's Xinhua News Agency said, a comment seen as a plea for Chinese help in reviving the North's broken economy.
Further details were not made available, including whether China has agreed to provide further aid to the impoverished neighboring nation.
Kim also called for an early resumption of the six-party nuclear talks, according to Xinhua.
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