In a special parliamentary session April 13, 2012, North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly elected Kim to the post of first chairman of the National Defense Commission. It also made his father, late leader Kim Jong-il, who previously held the post of the commission's "chairman," the body' “chairman for eternity.”
The National Defense Commission is part of the executive branch of the government and the body that controls the military – the center of power in North Korea. The chairman of the commission is the head of government.
