Kim Jong-un received the title of "first secretary" of the Workers' Party – the ruling political party of North Korea – ahead of the centennial of his grandfather's birth and an anticipated rocket launch at a special party conference on April 11, 2012. The Monitor reported that his father held the position of "general secretary" when he died in December, so rather than give the same title to his son, North Korea gave him the new title and announced that the late Kim would remain "eternal general secretary."
“The son cannot take the father’s title,” says Bae Jong-yun, a political science professor at Yonsei University, explaining the deep Confucian respect for one’s ancestors behind the decision to honor Kim Jong-il as “eternal” general secretary. “The actual title is not so important,” Mr. Bae adds. “By naming Kim Jong-un first secretary, the party, his power, is consolidated and will give him stronger power as time passes.”
All government officials belong to the Workers' Party of Korea, though a few minor political parties are allowed to exist in name only.
