N. Korea Says Kim Jong Il Has Assumed Power

UNITED NATIONS — Communist North Korea told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that Kim Jong Il, son of the late President Kim Il Sung, is the country's new supreme leader and supreme commander of its armed forces.

The statement by North Korea's deputy foreign minister, Choi Su Hon, in a speech to the U.N. body appeared to end any lingering doubts that Kim Jong Il, who has not yet been sworn in, had inherited his father's mantle. Kim Il Sung died July 8.

Choi's speech opened with a paean to the late North Korean leader as well as to his son.

The government-controlled press on Wednesday also told North Koreans in the most categorical terms yet that Kim Jong Il will assume the country's leadership.