More than 640 North Koreans have been awarded state prizes or medals, Pyongyang’s media reported Tuesday, as the North seeks to further consolidate power of its new young leader Kim Jong-un.

Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, took over the communist country after his father and long-time leader Kim Jong-il died in December. The North has since been stepping up efforts to boost the image and power of the new leader.

The North conferred the Order of Kim Il-sung to 119 soldiers and officials as well as an orchestra, a garment factory and a cigarette factory for their contributions to building a thriving country, the North‘s Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch.

Meanwhile, the North awarded the Kim Il-sung Children Honor Prize and Kim Il-sung Youth Honor Prize to 211 children and 298 officials and members of the Socialist Youth League, respectively, the dispatch said.

The North has also conferred the Kim Il-sung Prize to 18 people for their contributions to glorifying the feats of the country’s founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il, according to the dispatch.

North Korea often confers state awards or gifts on its people to try to elicit their loyalty to its regime.

The latest award ceremonies took place ahead of the April 15 centennial of the birth of Kim Il-sung.

On Monday, the KCNA reported that the Supreme People‘s Assembly has posthumously awarded the Order of Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il by “reflecting the unanimous will and desire of all the service personnel and people.” (Yonhap News)