A portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was seen hanging alongside those of predecessors Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il for the first time in the North's state media.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) on Wednesday showed several photos of Kim visiting a newly built school for ruling Workers' Party officials the previous day, including that of a classroom where the portraits were hung on the walls.

This is the first time that a portrait of the regime leader was seen alongside those of his late grandfather and regime founder Kim Il-sung and late father Kim Jong-il, a sign of boosting his idolization to near the level of his predecessors.

Kim Jong-un's portrait was absent when the KCNA reported on his visit to the same school in Pyongyang last week.

An official at Seoul's unification ministry noted the rarity of portraits of the three members of the Kim family shown alongside each other, before pledging to continue keeping tabs for related developments.