North Korea warns it won’t soften stance

NORTH Korea warned the world there would be no softening of its position towards South Korea after Kim Jong-il’s death as Pyongyang strengthened his son and heir’s authority with a new title: Great Leader.

North Korea’s National Defence Commission said the country would never deal with South Korean president Lee Myung-bak, a conservative who stopped a no-strings-attached aid policy towards the North in 2008.

The stern message also said North Korea was uniting around Kim Jong-un, referring to him for the first time with the title Great Leader — previously used for his father — in a clear message of continuity. It was the latest incremental step in a burgeoning cult of personality around the son following the death of Jong-il on December 17.