North Korea names Kim Jong Un party chairman

9 May 2016, 2:07 pm

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North Korea’s ruling-party congress has bestowed a new title on Kim Jong Un: party chairman. The move highlights how the country’s first congress in 36 years is aimed at bolstering the young leader.

The news emerged Monday during the few minutes a small group of foreign media was allowed the watch the congress in the ornate April 25 House of Culture.

A man walks past a propaganda poster at a silk factory in Pyongyang on May 9, 2016. (AFP/ Ed Jones) — A man walks past a propaganda poster at a silk factory in Pyongyang on May 9, 2016. (AFP/Ed Jones)

As a military band in full uniform played the welcoming song used whenever North Korea’s leader enters a public place, Kim strode onto the stage, generating a long loud standing ovation from the several thousand delegates attending.

Kim Yong Nam, the head of the North’s Parliament, stood to read a roster of top party positions — calling Kim Jong Un chairman for the first time.

— AP