(CNN) -- Kim Jong Un has assumed "the supreme commandership" of the North Korean army, state media reported Saturday. The announcement came a day after prospects for a shift in relations on the Korean peninsula were dashed when North Korea said a change in leadership would not mean a change in policy.  North Korea tells world to 'expect no change' 
 
 North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un is an unknown quantity - making neighbours worried 
 
 North Korea has told the international community not to "expect any change" in the wake of Kim Jong-il's death. The statement from the NDC - which is thought to be the country's top decision-making body - said North Korea would "never deal" with South Korean leader Lee Myung-bak. The North criticized the South Korean government's decision to allow only a select group of private citizens to visit Pyongyang to pay their respects to Kim Jong Il, whose death was announced last week. Amid concerns over change in North Korean leadership, a top U.S. diplomat plans to travel to the region early next year in the first such talks since Kim Jong Il's death, the State Department announced Thursday. Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell will "discuss a range of important bilateral, regional and global issues" during his four days in China, South Korea and Japan.
– The passing of Kim Jong Il won't change anything in North Korea, the country announced today in quite the blustery manner. "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," officials said in a statement, the BBC reports. The North "will have no dealings" with South Korea president Lee Myung-bak's "group of traitors forever." The statement, released by the National Defense Commission, hammered the South for its "show of enmity" that "culminated in its act of blocking South Koreans who wanted to visit Pyongyang to mourn the demise of leader Kim Jong Il." The South let just a few citizens head north following Kim's death, but the move doesn't seem to have appeased the North: Officials said Seoul had created "a war-like atmosphere" by putting its military on alert after the leader's death. North Korea's "sea of tears" will become "retaliatory fire to burn all the group of traitors to the last one," the statement said, according to CNN.