North Korea warned rival South Korea and the rest of the world Friday not to expect any change after Kim Jong-il’s death, sending a clear message of continuity by also calling his son and heir ``Great Leader" for the first time.

North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission said that the country would never deal with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative who stopped a no-strings-attached aid policy toward the North in 2008, and that it would unite around new leader Kim Jong-un.

The stern message also said North Korea was ``uniting around Great Leader comrade Kim Jong-un." The title was one of the ways North Korea strengthened the personality cult surrounding Kim Jong-il. The term was also used for Kim Il-sung, the country’s revered founder and the grandfather of Kim Jong -un.

The statement came a day after North Korea ended official mourning for Kim Jong-il and declared Kim Jong-un supreme leader of the ruling party and military at a massive public memorial for the elder Kim. The top levels of government have unified around Kim Jong-un, who is in late 20s, in the wake of Kim Jong-il’s death Dec. 17.

``We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us," the National Defense Commission said in a statement. "We will never deal with the traitor group of Lee Myung-bak." (AP)