N. Korean leader attended musical on day of nuclear test: report

SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il attended an art
performance by female soldiers, state media there said Tuesday, as international
consultations were underway over how to punish Pyongyang's second nuclear test.

The report by the Korean Central News Agency and other media, first dispatched at
1 a.m., did not say when the show was staged, but it was likely on Monday, the
same day the country carried out its second nuclear test. State media usually
report on Kim's activities on the day they are made or the following day.
Kim "said that it is another aspect of the pride of our army to have such a
dependable women's unit," the report said of his visit to the Kamnamu (persimmon
tree) company of the Korean People's Army (KPA).
The soldiers presented songs like "Our General Is the Best," "General and Our
Kamnamu Company" and "May Soldiers' Song of Happiness Reverberate Far and Wide,"
it said.
The soldiers' songs praised "the profound loving care of Kim Jong-il and
strikingly demonstrated the might of the heroic KPA which has grown to be a
matchless army and the iron faith and will and militant spirit of the KPA," it
said.
Kim's entourage included KPA Generals Hyon Chol-hae and Ri Myong-su and Workers'
Party Secretary Kim Ki-nam, as well as the party's department directors, Jang
Song-thaek, Pak Nam-gi and Choe Ik-gyu, it said. Jang, married to the leader's
only sister Kim Kyong-hi, is also a member of the National Defense Commission,
the highest military decision-making body.
North Korea's second nuclear test, following its first in 2006, drew strong
condemnation by the international community. The U.N. Security Council swiftly
rebuked the test as a "clear violation" of a 2006 resolution and said it will
introduce stronger measures against the North.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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