http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/05/nkorea.nuclear.bullets.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Kim rallies troops in rare address
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- To cheers of "Human bullets and bombs!" North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly rallied with top military commanders in a rare public appearance amid growing concern the communist regime will soon test a nuclear bomb.
The meeting was the reclusive leader's first reported public sighting in three weeks and first since Tuesday when his government shocked the world and alarmed its jittery neighbors by announcing plans to detonate an atomic weapon.
Kim congratulated the battalion commanders and political instructors for "bolstering the Korean People's Army as invincible revolutionary armed forces," the country's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, reported late Thursday.
Kim also urged them to "further strengthen the battalions," KCNA said.
Attendees responded with "stormy cheers of 'hurrah"' and chanted slogans such as "Let's fight at the cost of our lives for the respected Supreme Commander comrade Kim Jong Il," "Human bullets and bombs," and "Devoted defense," KCNA said.
It was unclear when the rally took place, but it could show that Kim is trying to polish his credentials with the military at a sensitive time when the international community is stepping up pressure on Pyongyang to scrap any plans for a test.
Kim's last reported public activity was last month when KCNA reported on Sept. 15 that he visited the scenic Diamond Mountain near the border with South Korea.
The North claims to have nuclear weapons, but hasn't performed any known test to prove that.
Six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions have been stalled for almost a year, and North Korea says it needs an atomic arsenal to deter a possible attack from the United States.
Washington has repeatedly said it has no intention of invading North Korea.
Little Kim -- someone to watch.