Seven months after taking over as the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un was officially named the country's top military leader on July 17, 2012. North Korean media reported that the promotion was decided in a meeting of top government, military, and Workers’ Party officials.

The news was announced in dramatic fashion, according to media reports. First, the North Korean government sent a special TV and radio broadcast alerting the nation that it would make a “special announcement” around noon. The last time such a “special” announcement like this had been made in advance on state-run television was when Kim Jong-un's father Kim Jong-il died in December. Monitor correspondent Donald Kirk reports that circumstances of the announcement and the bestowal of the title were designed to hammer home the new leader's control.