First there was Great Leader Kim Il-sung, then Dear Leader Kim Jong-il. Now North Korea sings the mandatory praises of its Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un. The young head of state, known in recent years as the Great Successor, officially took on his new title Thursday during the second day of funeral proceedings for his father, Kim Jong-il. He had held a temporary title in the meantime, The Guardian reports: "The North Korean media had been referring to Jong-un as the supreme commander in the days before his father's funeral, but this was the first time his leadership had been publicly endorsed." So while Kim Jong-un was always expected to get the job of head of state, he still hadn't officially nailed it until Thursday, when the public heard that new title. Though as Jeung Young-tae, an analyst with the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, South Korea, told the Associated Press, "Kim Jong Un is already the leader of the party, military and country." Thursday's event was for the public, "an event to publicly reconfirm and solidify" Kim Jong-un's status. Now this is the guy who'll lead the nuclear-armed rogue state in talks to ratchet down international tension.

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Adam Martin