Seven months after taking over as the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un was officially named the country's top military leader on July 17, 2012. North Korean media reported that the promotion was decided in a meeting of top government, military, and Workers鈥� Party officials.
The news was announced in dramatic fashion, . First, the North Korean government sent a special TV and radio broadcast alerting the nation that it would make a 鈥渟pecial announcement鈥� around noon. The last time such a 鈥渟pecial鈥� announcement like this had been made in advance on state-run television was when Kim Jong-un's father Kim Jong-il died in December. Monitor correspondent Donald Kirk reports that circumstances of the announcement and the bestowal of the title were designed to hammer home the new leader's control.
He still has one more rank to which to aspire 鈥� that of 鈥済reat marshal,鈥� the title held by his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father. Meaningless though the difference between "marshal" and "great marshal" may appear, the inference is that he is rapidly falling into place as heir to the dynasty 鈥� and may soon reign on their same level.
