North Korean military plan visit to 'shining star' birthplace for Kim Jong-il birthday Among those attending were military chief Ri Yong-Ho, leading party officials Kim Ki-Nam and Choe Thae-Bok, and Kim Jong-Gak, who is in charge of military administration and organisation, it said. Kim Jong-il ruled the impoverished but nuclear-armed state for 17 years after his own father and founding President Kim Il-sung died in 1994. Ri, in a speech at the event, called Kim's birth "a global milestone" while senior ruling party official Ri Yong-Chol urged young people to "firmly unite" behind Jong-un in line with Kim's last wishes. The event ended with fireworks and cheers by participants, it said. State media has earlier said groups of workers across the nation began trips to the mountain to pay respects to the Kim family, whose "Paekdu bloodline" is trumpeted in official propaganda. The mountain, the highest on the peninsula, is sacred to both Koreas as the place where, according to legend, their ancestors originated. Official accounts say Kim was born there. But independent experts say his birthplace was actually a guerrilla camp in Russia, from where his father was fighting Japanese forces who had colonised the Korean peninsula.