Name that title -- North Korea's Kim has many roles

[July 18, 2012]  (AP) -- Kim Jong Un is not the president of North Korea. That title belongs -- eternally, the government says -- to his late grandfather Kim Il Sung, the nation's founder. But the younger Kim has picked up a slew of big titles in the seven months since he became the country's leader. Here's the list:

• Marshal of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea's official name): Kim was granted the title in a meeting of top government, military and Workers' Party officials on July 17. The decision was made a day after the surprise announcement of the dismissal of the army chief. Kim previously was promoted to four-star general in September 2010.

• First chairman of the National Defense Commission: North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly elected Kim to the post in a special parliamentary session April 13. It also made his father, late leader Kim Jong Il, the commission's "chairman for eternity."

• First secretary of the Workers' Party: Kim was awarded the newly created post at a special party conference on April 11. His father was granted the posthumous title of "eternal general secretary."

• Chairman of the party's Central Military Commission: Kim succeeded his father as chairman of the commission that formulates the party's military policies at the April 11 conference. Kim had been named a vice chairman of the commission in September 2010.

• Member of the Presidium of the party's Political Bureau: Kim was named a standing member of the party's five-man politburo Presidium at the April 11 conference.

• Supreme commander of the Korean People's Army: Kim was named the top commander of North Korea's 1.2 million-member military at a Workers' Party meeting on Dec. 30.

[Associated Press]

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