Kim Jong Un is ‘supreme commander’

Associated Press

PYONGYANG, North Korea

North Korea announced today that Kim Jong Un officially has been named supreme commander of the military, further strengthening his authority after the death of his father, longtime North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Officials and state media have bestowed on Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s, a string of titles as North Korea’s elite rally around him in the wake of his father’s death this month after 17 years in power.

But the title Supreme Commander — and its formal proclamation by the powerful Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party — is a clear sign that Kim Jong Un is fast consolidating power over North Korea. It’s also the latest step in a burgeoning personality cult around him.