United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that North Korea is changing the official English translation of the title of the country’s top leader. Up until January 22, the North Korean official news agency KCNA (Korean Central News Agency) was using “Chairman of the State Affairs Commission” as the title for Kim Jong-un. However, starting on February 11, the translation was officially changed to “President of the State Affairs.” The international community typically uses the word “president” to indicate the top leader of a county. This new move appears to be an effort to emphasize that North Korea’s leader is also an international leader. North Korea did not have an official explanation for this latest change. In the meantime, the Chinese translation and the Russian translation remain unchanged. In recent years, socialist countries like China also switched the translation from chairman to president. However, Xi Jinping’s official title in Chinese remains Chairman. The North Korean Constitution clearly designates the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission as the highest leader of the nation. Kim Jong-un has two other titles.
Source: UDN, February 20, 2021
https://udn.com/news/story/6809/5264234