- North Korea vowed on Saturday to uphold Kim Jong Il's son as "supreme commander" as the campaign to install the young man as the next leader of the socialist nation sped up one week after his father's death.
- North Korea was founded in 1948 by Kim Il Sung, who retains the title of "eternal president" long after his death in 1994.
- His son, Kim Jong Il, ruled as chairman of the National Defense Commission, supreme commander of the Korean People's Army and general secretary of the Workers' Party.
- Kim Jong Un was promoted to four-star general and appointed a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party in September 2010. He had been expected to assume a number of other key posts while being groomed to succeed his father.
