The Jong remains the same: North Korea said expect no change - and they were right! - as new leader follows in his father's footsteps... and jacket
Since the death of its leader Kim Jong Il, and the succession of his son Kim Jong Un, North Korea has told the West to expect no change in ideology and policies.
As these pictures show, the West can also expect little change in dress sense, facial expression, or the new leader's ability to enter into staring competitions with inanimate objects - just like his father.
The drab 1950's-style military jacket may have been updated (only to the 1960s, in the same colour), and Kim Jong Un has discarded his father's dictator-chic sunglasses and opted for a snazzy centre-parting hairstyle.
Strike a pose: Kim Jong Un, in a picture released today, and his late father Kim Jong Il showing the family wave
North Korean buffet: Kim Jong Un surveys the mess hall of the Korean People's Army Unit 169 during a military base visit today
Familiar territory: An undated photo shows Kim Jong Il in a similar pose, dispassionately surveying the mess hall of a military base during one of his frequent inspections
But North Korean watchers who have been bemused by pictures of Kim Jong Il's endless round of humourless inspections can expect more of the same... much more.
A series of pictures released today, showing Kim Jong Un inspecting Unit 169 of the Korean People's Army, had an eerie resemblance to his father's numerous military visits.
There were shots of Kim Jong Un surrounded by feverishly applauding army officers, Kim Jong Un staring down at a feast of food in the mess hall, and Kim Jong Un in khaki combat jacket, black slacks and smart dress shoes.
Hang on, dad never did that! Kim Jong Un holds hands with a military commander as he tours the Unit 169 base. Surely that's not what they mean by strong rule going hand in hand with the military
Garden appreciation: Kim Jong Un seems amused by something in the ceremonial gardens of the military compound - and, therefore, so are his following commanders
Less than amused: In 2009, during a similar tour of a military cotton plantation, Kim Jong Il didn't find anything to smile about - and, accordingly, neither did his entourage
The look of leadership: Despite the new leader reportedly being an Eric Clapton fan, he looks unimpressed when offered a guitar, while Kim Jong Il once won a staring competition with a computer (the cursor blinked)
Sound familiar? It should do - photographers took pictures of his father doing exactly the same thing for years.
The only difference is that, occasionally, the new leader cracked a smile - something his father rarely managed.
It was Kim Jong Un's second reported visit to a military unit this month, and his latest attempt to cement his position as the new leader of the country.
Cracking a smile: Kim Jong Un goes so far as to laugh during his army visit, a major departure from the usually stern images released to the international press
That's more like it: Kim Jong Il cracks a rare smile on a visit to Huichon power station construction site in North Korea. But it seems whenever the Dear Leader looked happy, it was cause for some concern for his son
Perhaps the similar photo opportunities were an attempt to re-assure both his nation and the world that he is in every way a match of his father's stability and power.
Kim Jong Un, believed to be in his late twenties, succeeded his father as dictator of North Korea and head of the military when Kim Jong Il died in December last year.
FIRST STEPS TOWARDS THE WEST AS AP OPENS PYONGYANG OFFICE
The Associated Press has opened a bureau in Pyongyang, becoming the first international news organization with a full-time presence to cover news from North Korea in words, pictures and video.
The bureau expands the AP's presence in North Korea, building on the breakthrough in 2006 when it opened a video bureau in the North Korean capital.
Now, AP writers and photojournalists will also be allowed to work in North Korea on a regular basis.
For North Korea, which for decades has remained largely off-limits to international journalists, the opening marked an important gesture - particularly because North Korea and the U.S. have never had formal diplomatic relations.
AP, an independent, 165-year-old news cooperative founded in New York and owned by its U.S. newspaper membership, has operations in more than 100 countries and employs nearly 2,500 journalists across the world in 300 locations.
The nation's insistence that the new leader is in every way as powerful as his predecessor has been undermined by claims that he is merely a figurehead for military rulers.
A new book claims that the estranged eldest son of Kim Jong Il believes that the impoverished government is in danger of collapse, and that his half brother is powerless.
Author Yoji Gomi said he exchanged 150 e-mails with Kim Jong Nam, the older son of the former dictator, and spent a total of seven hours interviewing him.
The book - My Father, Kim Jong Il, And Me - went on sale yesterday and provides a rare insight into the family, even though Kim Jong Nam is thought to be estranged from his family and the workings of government.
The book quotes Kim Jong Nam as countering the state media campaign that portrayed his half brother as the unquestioned new leader.
He says: 'Jong-Un will just be a figurehead... Without reforms and liberalization, the collapse of the economy is within sight.
'But reforms and opening up could also invite dangers for the regime.'
Kim Jong Nam is widely believed to have been dropped from consideration as a successor after he embarrassed the government in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport. He said he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
In a rare public sign of discord in the tightly choreographed succession process, Kim Jong Nam adds: 'The power elite that have ruled the country will continue to be in control. I have my doubts about whether a person with only two years of grooming as a leader can govern.'
Out of favour: Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of Kim Jong Il, who was dropped as his father's successor after entering France on a fake passport (above right), says his younger half-brother is an unlikely leader
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