North Korean leader Kim Jong-il shown in rare rally footage

Seoul, Mar.8 (ANI): North Korea has broadcast a video of its leader Kim Jong-il attending a massive rally to mark the reopening of a textile factory.

According to The Telegraph, the video footage was designed to project his commitment to reviving North Korea's sagging economy.

In the footage shown on Saturday on state television, Kim - wearing a parka, fur hat and sunglasses - clapped his hands and waved to a crowd of people packing a plaza in the eastern coastal city of Hamhung.

Top deputies including No 2 leader Kim Yong-nam on an elevated stage as people waved red paper flowers below flanked him.

The rally on Saturday marked the completion of a factory producing a North Korean-invented synthetic textile called "vinalon", state TV said.

Kim, who is believed to have recovered from a stroke in 2008, is often shown in state-distributed photos visiting army units and farms and watching musical concerts, but has rarely appeared in videos.

The communist regime has relied on outside food handouts since the mid-1990s, when its economy collapsed due to natural disasters and mismanagement, and aid from the former Soviet Union dried up after that country's collapse. (ANI)