FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2010 file photo, a South Korean worker watches a TV news program showing...
FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2010 file photo, a South Korean worker watches a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's third son Kim Jong Un as she waits to head to the North Korean city of Kaesong at the customs, immigration and quarantine office for North Korea near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea. North Korean authorities confirmed to TV news agency APTN in Pyongyang that the man shown in the footage is Kim Jong Un. North Korea's heir apparent Kim Jong Un appeared Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010 for the first time in the country's state media reports on visits by his father, supreme leader Kim Jong Il, to review troops and factories. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
(AP)
Kim Jong Il expressed "great satisfaction over the fact that all the units are fully prepared to beat back in time any surprise enemy invasion and defend the socialist homeland as firm as a rock," KCNA said in a later English-language version of the report.
He also had a photo session with participating army commanders and members of the unit, identified by its numerical designation of 851, KCNA said. The drill was held to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the ruling party, which is to be marked Sunday.
Late Tuesday, North Korean state television broadcast still photos of the drills and of Kim Jong Il shown with others who accompanied him. Kim Jong Un was visible in one of the photos standing two people away from his father in a group picture.
The world got its first glimpse of Kim Jong Un last Thursday, two days after North Korea held its biggest Workers' Party gathering in 30 years. The younger Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, was shown in several group photos taken with his father and other party and military officials and published in the country's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
He also was seen Thursday in video footage of the party meeting broadcast on state television in which he was shown applauding with other delegates during a speech lauding his father.
Separately, the South Korean military is preparing to immediately resume full-scale propaganda activities against North Korea in the event of "any new provocations" by the country, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Tuesday.
"We plan to put our preparations into action when a political judgment sees the need for us to further pressure the North," he told lawmakers. He spoke a day after saying that Pyongyang may launch provocative acts as it carries out its leadership succession plan and to disrupt a summit of the Group of 20 nations next month in Seoul.
Kim's comments also came after North Korea said last week it might fire artillery at sites in the South from where leaflets criticizing the country are launched by civilian activists using balloon across the heavily fortified border.
