Korea’s Parliament to convene April 9

SOUTH KOREA: North Korea said Friday that its newly elected Parliament will convene April 9 - just after the country’s planned satellite launch that has sharply raised regional tensions.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported the timing in a brief dispatch from Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who is believed to have suffered a stroke last year, was unanimously re-elected to a seat on the legislative Supreme People’s Assembly in elections March 8.

North Korea said last week that it plans to launch a communications satellite some time from April 4 to April 8. Doubts, however, persist about Pyongyang’s true intentions with countries including the United States, Japan and South Korea expressing concerns that it is more interested in testing its advanced missile technology.

Koh Yu-kwan of South Korea’s Dongguk University said the rocket launch was intended as a celebration of Kim’s third term as head of the National Defense Commission and would let the outside world know about the isolated country’s aspirations.

The launch is intended to “show the international community that it is the beginning of North Korea’s plan to build a prosperous and powerful nation,” he said.

SEOUL, Friday, AP