Kim Jong Un meets with South Korean delegation

Kim Jong Un, son of Kim Jong Il, in this undated file photo during a visit with father to the Kangso Mineral Water Processing Factory in Pyongannam Do, North Korea. (AP/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea's next leader burnished his diplomatic skills Monday, welcoming a private South Korean mourning delegation as state media revealed a new title that gives Kim Jong Un authority over political matters.

Kim Jong Un has rapidly gained prominence since the death of his father Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17, and his brief meeting with a group led by a former South Korean first lady and a prominent business leader shows Seoul that he is assured in his new role.

State media have showered Kim with new titles. On Saturday, the North referred to him as "supreme leader" of the 1.2 million-strong armed forces and said the military's top leaders had pledged their loyalty to him. On Monday, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper described him as head of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party — a post that appears to make him the top official in the ruling party.

On Monday, a South Korean delegation stood in a line on a red carpet and bowed silently during their visit to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim Jong Il's body is lying in state in a bier surrounded by flowers and flanked by an honor guard.

Kim Jong Un gave the South Koreans his thanks after they expressed condolences and sympathy, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Seoul's Unification Ministry confirmed the meeting in a statement but didn't elaborate.

The lead delegates were the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who engineered a "sunshine" engagement policy with the North and held a landmark summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, whose late husband had ties to the North.