Kim Jong Un: The Great Successor

At a state memorial, Kim Jong Il's favourite son was named the new leader of North Korea.

A second state ceremony for North Korea’s Kim Jong Il has cemented the role of his twenty-something son, Kim Jong Un, as the country’s Great Successor. He is expected to take on the positions once held by his father: chairman of the National Defense Commission, general secretary of the Workers’ Party and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army. State officials eulogized the late Kim Jung Il and named his son successor at Kim Il Sung Square, named for Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, the state’s first and only president. Hundreds of thousands of locals attended the ceremony and ended the 13-day mourning period with three minutes of silence. In addition to backing Kim Jong Un, state media praised the late Kim Jung Il for his contributions to global peace and stability.