Kim Jong Un Voted Person Of The Year In Time Reader Poll

Time Readers Choose Their Person Of The Year
FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2010 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un attends a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea fired a long-range rocket Wednesday, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 in its second launch under its new leader, South Korean officials said, defying warnings from the U.N. and Washington only days before South Korean presidential elections. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2010 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un attends a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea fired a long-range rocket Wednesday, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 in its second launch under its new leader, South Korean officials said, defying warnings from the U.N. and Washington only days before South Korean presidential elections. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

The readers of Time have selected North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as their pick for the magazine's annual "Person of the Year."

Time, while acknowledging that the results of its reader poll were "completely unscientific," touted the news on Thursday, saying that Kim had received 5.6 million votes. The magazine also said that it had been the target of campaigns by sites like 4Chan, which pushed Kim's vote total up.

Kim hasn't even run North Korea for a year, but he's had an eventful 2012.

So, what does that mean for the ultimate recipient of the coveted title? (Last year's choice was "The Protester.") Well, not much, as Time admitted:

This doesn't mean Kim is TIME's Person of the Year. That choice is made by the editors of TIME and will be revealed Dec. 19 on the Today show, on TIME.com and via TIME's Twitter handle. The poll allows readers to weigh in on the people--and things (Hello, Curiosity Rover!)--whom they think influenced the news, for better or worse, in 2012.

"While we don't make our selection based on the poll results," said TIME executive editor Radhika Jones in a recent interview, "it's always interesting to see where some of our preferred candidates end up."

To see some of the other selections Time readers made, click here.

Before You Go

Kim Jong Un, Ri Sol Ju

North Korea

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot