Kim Jong-iI absent from national parade

SEOUL, South Korea // North Korea marked the 60th anniversary of its founding today, amid news reports that the communist country's leader Kim Jong-iI did not attend due to ill health. Japan's Kyodo news agency said that Kim was not seen at the parade, adding that the country's regular army, navy and air force did not participate. Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency also reported that Kim did not appear. A spokesman for South Korea's main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said it could not immediately confirm Kim's absence. However, it said that the parade, which involved about 1 million people, was found to have largely been conducted by civilian militia forces.

The centrepiece of the celebration had been expected to be a massive military parade through Pyongyang's central Kim II Sung Square - named after the communist country's founding figure - as normally happens in key anniversary years. Mr Kim attended the parade on the 50th and 55th anniversaries. Attention this year was focused on whether the ruler, who is the son of the country's founder, would attend. He has been absent from public view since mid-August, which has sparked speculation he could be ill.

His health has been a focus of intense interest because his fate is believed to be closely tied to that of the totalitarian state that he inherited in 1994 from his father in communism's first hereditary transfer of power. South Korean media have speculated that the 66-year-old's health has worsened. South Korea's intelligence service has previously said Mr Kim has chronic heart disease and diabetes - denied by the ruler himself.

South Korean media reported today that Mr Kim collapsed on Aug 22, citing an unnamed South Korean diplomat in Beijing. The diplomat got the information from a Chinese source, the reports said. South Korean officials said yesterday that they believed the North was planning a military parade, though could not confirm a South Korean media report that it was to be the country's largest ever. The North's 60th anniversary comes amid international doubts over its commitment to denuclearisation, speculation about the health of its leader and a worsening food crisis.

North Korea's state news agency made no mention of the parade, though it carried an exhortation from the main Rodong Sinmun newspaper calling on the population to remain united around Kim. "One-minded unity around the revolutionary leadership is a source of all the DPRK's victories and miracles," the paper said in a lengthy editorial marking the anniversary, using the acronym for the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

It also called for a stronger military, describing the armed forces as "the foundation of a strong nation." The 60th anniversary comes amid an impasse in international efforts to disable North Korea's nuclear programs. South Korea said last week the North has begun restoring its atomic facilities in apparent anger over not being removed from a US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. North Korea, which conducted an underground nuclear test blast in October 2006, began disabling its main nuclear facilities late last year in exchange for international energy aid and other benefits.

The United States has insisted Pyongyang must first agree to a full inspection system of its nuclear programs if it wants to be taken off the terrorism list. * AP