Seoul, Sept 03: North Korea's new Parliament today re-elected Kim Jong Il as head of the country's 1.1 million-strong military, the backbone of the reclusive Stalinist regime, the official news agency said. Kim's widely expected re-election as chairman of the National Defence Commission -- a post he's held since 1993 -- came amid tension over North Korea's suspected development of nuclear weapons.

The re-election "marks a great event strikingly demonstrating the firm will and faith of the DPRK to resolutely meet all challenges of the imperialists and reactionaries and foil their moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK," said North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency. DPRK is an acronym for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

Kim's was re-elected in the first session of North Korea's newly elected rubber-stamp supreme people's assembly. The country amended its Constitution in 1998 to make the National Defence Commission chairman the nation's highest state post. Kim took over in 1994 when his father, longtime President Kim Il Sung, died of heart failure.

Bureau Report