North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong-un, has risen to the supreme commander of the communist nation's massive armed forces, state media reported Saturday, a strong indication that the young son of late leader Kim Jong-il is solidifying power.
The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party met Friday and "proclaimed that the dear respected Kim Jong-un ... assumed the supreme commandership of the Korean People's Army according to the behest of leader Kim Jong-il on Oct. 8," Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said.
"The meeting courteously proclaimed that the dear respected Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK, assumed the supreme commandership of the Korean People's Army," it said.
Days after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, who ruled the nation for 17 years, the North declared his third son, Jong-un, as its new leader.
The junior Kim, in his late 20s, was made a four-star general last year and appointed a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party.
Kim Jong-Il died of a heart attack on Dec. 17. (Yonhap)