North Korea unveiled a new giant statue of its late leader Kim Jong-il on Tuesday at a ceremony held in front of thousands of cheering soldiers, state television showed.

The official Korean Central News Agency said the event at the army’s Unit 10215 was attended by senior military and party officials, including parliamentary head Kim Yong-nam, often regarded as a ceremonial head of state.

State television footage showed huge balloons with banners floating alongside the bronze statue of the late leader standing and smiling, one of them reading “Solidarity with all our minds.”

The personality cult surrounding North Korea’s ruling family is akin to a state religion, and there are statues across the country of founding leader Kim Il-sung and his son Jong-il.

In April, towering statues of the two Kims together were unveiled in Pyongyang, soon after a failed rocket launch that had been condemned by the United States as an attempted ballistic missile test.

Kim Il-sung died in 1994 after bequeathing power to Jong-il, who suffered a fatal heart attack last December and was succeeded by his son, Jong-un.

The new leader was not present at Tuesday’s ceremony, which included pledges of loyalty from the massed ranks of troops.

“Let’s protect comrade Kim Jong-un with our lives,” General Kim Won-hong, a Central Military Commission member, said in a speech greeted with cheers by the soldiers. (AFP)