Kim Jong-un wins online poll for Time’s Person of the Year

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has won Time magazine’s reader poll for the title of the Person of the Year.

According to the website of Time on Thursday, its readers’ online poll, which closed on Dec. 12, gave Kim 5,635,941 votes, surpassing American television host John Stewart who placed second with 2,366,324 votes.

They were followed by undocumented immigrants, American artistic gymnast Gabby Douglas, and Myanmar opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar President Thein Sein in that order, completing the top five.

American comedian Stephen Colbert, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi filled out the top 10.

Psy, a Korean pop singer who became a global star with “Gangnam Style,” outdid U.S. President Barack Obama by one notch and placed 17th.

Time’s editors will take into account its reader poll in choosing the person who most influenced the news this year for better or worse, and announce the Person of the Year on Dec. 19.

Past Person of the Year winners as chosen by Time’s editors include The Protestor (2011); Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (2010); Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (2009) and President Barack Obama (2008).

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)