Editing Politics of North Korea (section)

== Transition of power to Kim Jong Un ==

=== Political power ===
After the [[Death and state funeral of Kim Jong Il|death of Kim Jong Il]] on 17 December 2011, his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, inherited the political leadership of the DPRK. The succession of power was immediate: Kim Jong Un became [[Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army]] on 30 December 2011, was appointed first secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) on 11 April 2012, and was entitled first chairman of the National Defense Commission (NDC) two days later. To gain complete political power, he became the military rank of [[Wonsu|Marshal of the KPA]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Woo|first=Jongseok|date=June 2014|title=Kim Jong-il's military-first politics and beyond: Military control mechanisms and the problem of power succession|journal=Communist and Post-Communist Studies|volume=47|issue=2|pages=117–125|doi=10.1016/j.postcomstud.2014.04.002|issn=0967-067X}}</ref>

=== Differences from the Kim Jong Il regime ===
Up until his death, Kim Jong Il maintained a strong national [[Songun|military-first political system]] that equated stability with military power. Kim Jong Un continues to carry on the militarized political style of his father, but with less commitment to complete military rule. Since he took power, Kim Jong Un has attempted to move political power away from the KPA and has divided it among the WPK and the [[Cabinet of North Korea|cabinet]]. Because of his political lobbying, the WPK's [[Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea|Central Committee]] has vastly shifted power in April 2012: out of 17 members and 15 alternates of the Committee, only five members and six alternates derive from military and security sectors. Ever since, the economic power of the WPK, the cabinet, and the KPA has been in a tense balance. The KPA has lost a significant amount of economic influence because of the current regime, which continually shifts from what Kim Jong Il built his regime on, and may cause later internal issues.<ref name=":0" />