Kim Jong Un given fresh title

NORTH KOREA’S leader, Kim Jong Un, has been given a new title, “general secretary” of the ruling Workers’ Party, state media reported.

The title was formerly held by his late father and grandfather, with the move appearing to be a symbolic one aimed at bolstering his authority amid growing economic challenges.

The party’s ongoing congress, the first in kind in five years, announced Kim’s new title during a session on Sunday. A congress statement said Kim “has gloriously realised the historic mission to complete the country’s nuclear build-up plan,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

It is largely a symbolic appointment as Kim already was the party’s top leader. During a 2016 party congress, he was named “party chairman”, the equivalent of the “general secretary” role held by his father Kim Jong Il and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung.

Since inheriting power upon his father’s death in 2011, Kim,

37, has gradually consolidated his grip on power through a series of high-profile executions and purges that removed his potential rivals. The Kim family has ruled North Korea with a strong personality cult since Kim Il Sung founded the country in 1948.