North Korea's state media referred to late leader Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Jong-un, as an outstanding leader, a proclamation of the official opening of a new era in the communist country.
"We should unite around great comrade Kim Jong-un and faithfully follow his leadership," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Thursday in a lengthy editorial carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
The propaganda campaign came amid North Korea's efforts to ensure a smooth transition of power following the sudden death of leader Kim Jong-il.
In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney formally mentioned the name of the new leader amid speculation over the North's future leadership system.
"Kim Jong-il had designated Kim Jong-un as his official successor and at this time we have no indication that that has changed," Carney said Wednesday in a press briefing.
The North's editorial suggested that the new leader will follow his father's teachings in handling domestic and foreign affairs.
North Korea will make efforts to "strengthen friendships with people of other countries," the editorial said, though it did not mention how it will deal with South Korea or the United States.
The editorial also called on the military to bolster its capabilities for self-defense in every way to reliably safeguard the country's socialist system.
"We should further strengthen the combat power of the People's Army to sternly and mercilessly crush any provocations by enemies," it said, in an apparent reference to South Korea and the U.S.
Tensions still persist on the Korean Peninsula over the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
Carney said the United States hopes that the new leadership will support peace, prosperity and a better future for its people, and that it will abide by its commitments on denuclearization.
Meanwhile, Kwon Young-se, a lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party and chairman of the parliamentary intelligence committee, claimed Kim may not be fully in charge of the country's powerful military.
A South Korean source said Wednesday that Kim ordered all military units to halt field exercises and training and return to their bases, in his first order just before the announcement of his father's death this week.
The source said the order showed Kim's complete control over the North's 1.1 million-strong military, which served as a key backbone of his father's rule.
Still, Kwon said it was natural for Kim to issue that order after his father's death because he was designated as heir-apparent, according to PBC, a local radio station.
Kwon said on the radio program that it is too much to interpret Kim's order as indicating his full control over the armed forces.(Yonhap)