North Korea has elevated leader Kim Jong Eun to the position of Supreme Commander of the Chosun People’s Army, his first new official appointment since the death of Kim Jong Il.
The Chosun Workers’ Party made the move in a meeting of the wider Politburo yesterday, according to a report carried by Chosun Central News Agency this morning. The Politburo is charged with making decisions during those periods when the Central Committee of the Party is not in session.
“Members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chosun Workers’ Party and members and candidate members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Party attended the Politburo meeting,” the report stated, going on, “In the meeting, respected comrade Kim Jong Eun was proclaimed Supreme Commander of the Chosun People’s Army.”
“All those present stood and welcomed the news with a huge round of applause,” it added.
In December, 1991 when Kim Jong Il was elevated to the same position, it was done at a full meeting of the Party Central Committee; Kim Jong Eun’s elevation via a less universal meeting of the Politburo, albeit one attended by its more than 30 combined members and candidate members, appears symbolic of the hurry with which North Korea is currently working to place Kim Jong Eun in positions of formal authority.
As such, analysts in South Korea are also revising downwards their predictions about when Kim will be handed the titles of Chairman of the Central Military Commission, of which he is already Vice-Chairman, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, on which he currently holds no position at all, and Chosun Workers’ Party General-Secretary.
North Korea claims that this latest decision was taken based on the ‘October 8th Last Wishes’ of Kim Jong Il. The contents of these wishes has not been made public in full.
