Seoul: North Korea`s state media this week began bestowing the title "general" on the youngest son of leader Kim Jong-Il, showing he has cemented his status as leader-in-waiting, an analyst said on Tuesday.

Kim Jong-Un, believed to be in his late 20s, was given senior ruling party posts in September last year and was appointed a four-star general at the same time, despite lacking any military experience.

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But state media had previously only used his official title -- vice-chairman of the central military commission of the Workers` Party of Korea.
The son was described as "General of the Korean People`s Army" yesterday when Pyongyang`s official news agency released a list of top officials who attended a meeting between Kim Jong-Il and China`s visiting vice premier Li Keqiang.

Other state media used the same title on the same day, according to the South`s Yonhap news agency, which monitors the North`s broadcast media.

"The latest move indicates Kim Jong-Un is being put forward formally as a powerful leader like his father," Sejong Institute analyst Cheong Seong-Chang, a specialist in the succession issue, told AFP.

"Such a title has been used internally but North Korea now appears to be boosting the image of Jong-Un as military leader," he added. The senior Kim formally took over after his own father and founding president Kim Il-Sung died in 1994. Leader Kim apparently speeded up plans for a second eventual dynastic succession after suffering a stroke in August 2008.

It remains unclear when the son will be formally named as successor, although he is already actively involved in state affairs.
PTI