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    A look at official titles held by N. Korea's Kim

    By The Associated Press | Associated Press – Wed, Jul 18, 2012

    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 several 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.

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