Kim Jong Il watches parade of Red Guards in downtown Pyongyang.

PYONGYANG, September 9 (Itar-Tass) - North Koreans on Friday met with
thunderous "manse" ("hooray")! shouts DPRK leader Kim Jong Il as he
appeared on the rostrum of honour at Pyongyang's central square where a
military parade to mark the 63rd anniversary of the DPRK foundation was
held on September 9. Hundreds of thousands of military servicemen and
rally participants chanted enthusiastically, "Long live Kim Jong Il!"
Regular units and armoured vehicles did not participate in the parade.
Soldiers of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards marched in a parade front of the
rostrum where the North Korean leader's youngest son Kim Jong Un, Chairman
of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (Parliament) Kim Yong
Nam and other government and military leaders were also standing.
The heads of all diplomatic missions represented here and the military
attaches, representatives of international humanitarian organisations and
foreign journalists - correspondents of Itar-Tass, the Chinese Xinhua News
Agency and China Central Television were invited to attend the parade.
Flags of the DPRK and the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), posters and
slogans reading "Long live the revolutionary idea of Kim Il Sung," "Be
ready to defend the country sacrificing your life" were hung at the square.
Vice Chairman of the National Defence Commission Kim Yong Chun who
spoke ahead of the parade congratulated the country's Army and people on
the national holiday.
According to the AFP news agency, Kim and his youngest son Jong Un on
Friday clapped from the reviewing stand as motorised units including
howitzers, anti-aircraft guns and multiple launch rocket systems rumbled
past, according to North Korean TV footage. The parade in Pyongyang's vast
Kim Il-Sung Square was staged by the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, the
communist state's second-tier reserve force, the official news agency said.
The reservists warmly saluted the leader "who has built up the
Worker-Peasant Red Guards into invincible combat ranks, turning the whole
country into an invulnerable fortress," it said.
A cheering crowd which packed the square displayed characters spelling
out "Kim Il Sung," "Kim Jong Il" and "Glory" and waved flags, the agency
reported.
At the end of the parade, Kim Jong Il - who succeeded his late father
and founding president Kim Il Sung - came out on the balcony and warmly
acknowledged the cheers, it said.
Early Friday in North Korea, father and son visited the Kumsusan
Memorial Palace where Kim Il Sung's embalmed body has been preserved in a
glass coffin since his death in 1994. He remains "eternal president." The
junior Kim's name came ahead of all others as the news agency released the
line-up of party or military officials who accompanied the leader in
paying tribute.