North Korea’s ruling party Saturday hailed the son of late leader Kim Jong-Il as “supreme commander” of the military, in the latest sign that the untested successor is tightening his grip on power. Experts said the move indicated that Pyongyang would maintain its Songun (military-first) policy, blamed for the deaths of thousands of people to starvation as the isolated regime diverts resources to its armed forces.
“We will uphold Comrade Kim Jong-Un as our supreme commander and general and we will bring the Songun revolution to a completion,” the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling communist party, said in an editorial. The newspaper urged Jong-Un, Kim’s youngest son, to lead North Korea to “eternal victory”.
It is the first time that the North’s official media has used the title supreme commander – a post previously held by his father – for the new leader, already a four-star general despite only being in his late 20s.
