Celebrating the centenary of the late North Korea founder Kim Il-sung’s birth on Sunday, Pyongyang is holding a series of political events this week with a planned rocket launch between Thursday and Monday.

As the first step, North Korea seems to have formally promoted Kim Jong-un to the reclusive state’s ruling party chief at the rare Workers’ Party conference on Wednesday, analysts said.

The Workers’ Party is one of the two major political gatherings the North had announced it would hold in mid-April. The other is a Supreme People’s Assembly session scheduled for this Friday.

North Korea watchers expect the young leader, believed to be in his late 20s, to be named general secretary of the Workers’ Party, the highest post of the ruling party that his late father Kim Jong-il held before his death in December.

To date, the Workers’ Party has been held only three times since the foundation of the party in 1945. The last conference was held on Sept. 28, 2010 when Kim Jong-il made it public that the North Korean regime would be succeeded through three generations ― Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un.

The North’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper urged its people to unite around leader Kim Jong-un and thoroughly establish his unified command system.

“All party members and workers should deeply learn the greatness of dear respected comrade Kim Jong-un and faithfully follow his leadership,” the newspaper said in a recent editorial.

The young Kim’s rise to General Secretary of the Workers’ Party automatically gives him the other highest titles ― chairman of the Central Military Commission and standing member of the Central Committee’s powerful Political Bureau.

If Kim is promoted to Chairman of the National Defense Commission at a legislative meeting on Friday, North Korea will officially wrap up the power transfer from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un.

One noticeable change in the core power elite group under the young leader is the appointment of Kim Jong-gak as a new defense minister, analyst Cheong Seong-chang at the Sejong Institute said.

The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency called Kim Jong-gak People’s Armed Forces Minister, equivalent to defense minister. The North also promoted two senior officials Choe Ryong-hae and Hyon Chol-hae to People’s Army Vice Marshals, prior to the Workers’ Party conference.

“It is quite noticeable that a new elite group aiding Kim Jong-un appeared even before the Workers’ Party conference,” Cheong said.

After holding the Supreme People’s Assembly’s session on Friday, the North is to celebrate the centenary on Sunday and celebrate the 80th anniversary of the People’s Army on April 25.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)