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Pyongyang holds mass parade to celebrate ruling party congress

Xinhua, May 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

A mass rally and parade took place in central Pyongyang Tuesday to celebrate the end of the four-day Workers' Party Congress, which ended Monday in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, delivered a speech before the parade, in which he reiterated that the DPRK has become a nuclear state and congratulated top leader Kim Jong Un for being elected as chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).

The parade mobilized hundreds of thousands of Pyongyang citizens and took months of practice. They walked past the podium, chanting in tears "Long live Comrade Kim Jong Un" and "Long live the WPK." Kim Jong Un waved to them from time to time.

Kim Jong Un was elected chairman of the WPK during the 7th party congress. He had been the first secretary of the party since April 2012.

Meanwhile, two more individuals were elected to the WPK's Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, raising the number of committee members from three to five.

Previously, the members of the committee included Kim Jong Un, Kim Yong Nam and Hwang Pyong So, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army.

The ruling party's 7th congress opened last Friday for the first time in 36 years. It was the first party congress since Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011.

The party congress not only mapped out a course for future development and mulled state and economic policies, but also became a chance to consolidate Kim Jong Un's grip on power and strengthen the people's loyalty to the core leadership.

On Tuesday evening, a dancing show and a torch march involving more than 100,000 young students were held at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un did not show up at the torch march. Endi