SEOUL:North Korea's parliament Thursday re-elected Kim Jong-Il to the country's most powerful post, cementing his authority over the hardline communist state despite lingering questions about his health.
The new parliament's move came four days after a rocket launch hailed at home as a historic scientific triumph but criticised abroad as a provocative missile test.
"The first session of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA)...elected leader Kim Jong-Il chairman of the National Defence Commission," the Korean Central News Agency reported.
This is an expression of the people's "unquestioned support and trust in him," it said, adding thath Kim "has performed immortal exploits to shine long in the history of the country."
The agency did not say whether the 67-year-old leader was present at the SPA meeting. If so, it would be his first appearance at a major public event since reportedly suffering a stroke last August.
Kim is also head of the ruling Workers' Party and supreme military commander.
But the National Defence Commission is in overall control of the 1.2 million-member armed forces, whose welfare is prioritised under his Songun (army first) policy.
Analysts say Sunday's launch of what Pyongyang calls a satellite was timed to shore up support for Kim and his regime in the run-up to the SPA meeting.
State television on Tuesday aired brief footage of the launch, and some 100,000 people rallied the following day in central Pyongyang's Kim Il-Sung Square to celebrate the event.
"Hurrah! Great victory of military-led politics," read one slogan on a giant placard depicting soldiers waving rifles and bayonets.
Continuing the propaganda blitz, the state news agency Thursday said "every heart is brimming with endless affection and trust for Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il, who has enhanced the fatherland's dignity and status to the higest level and opened a new era of prosperity."
The North says it put into orbit a communications satellite as part of a peaceful space programme.
The United States and its allies say there is no sign of the object in space, and maintain the launch was in any case a disguised long-range missile test that violated United Nations resolutions.
"This launch is yet another step in the development of a North Korean long-range intercontinental ballistic missile," NATO ambassadors said in a statement after a meeting Wednesday .
"These irresponsible and provocative actions by Pyongyang pose a serious threat to the region and the international community at large." The UN Security Council, however, cannot agree how to handle the launch. The United States and its allies are pushing for a strong response but face opposition from China, Russia and others.
The SPA is a rubber-stamp parliament but its first meeting is seen as politically significant. It will approve shake-ups in the cabinet and the military and ratify foreign policy directives.
Analysts will closely watch for any personnel changes especially in the defence commission, whose first vice chairman Jo Myong-Rok, 81, is reportedly in ill health.
The parliament is also set to reaffirm the country's uncompromising stance on the rocket launch.
On Tuesday Pyongyang's deputy UN ambassador Pak Tok-Hun warned of unspecified "strong steps" if his country is censured by the Security Council.
The North, which tested an atomic weapon in 2006, has previously warned it will walk out of long-running six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in response to any UN action.
Elections for the SPA are normally held every five years but did not go ahead last summer amid reports of Kim's health problems.
It was finally held last month, with one pre-approved candidate -- including Kim himself -- standing in each constituency.
In recent weeks state media has released a stream of photos -- along with moving images this week -- of Kim on his trademark "field guidance" tours in an
apparent attempt to show he is fit and well.
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