Hot! And The Winner Of Times Person Of The Year Reader Poll Is

Kim Jong Un is having a good year. After taking over the leadership of North Korea from his late father Kim Jong Il, at the end of 2011, he s solidified his control over the country, appeared on and he was even named Sexiest Man Alive. (OK, that honor was actually bestowed as a spoof in the satirical newspaper, The Onion, but a Chinese news service mistook the Onion piece for real news and .)

Now, he s gotten the most votes in TIME s completely unscientific reader Person of the Year Poll with 5.6 million votes. Not bad for a man who didn t make an official public appearance until 2010.

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 and via . The poll allows readers to weigh in on the people and things (Hello, !) 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. (For more on how TIME editors choose the Person of the Year see )

The Daily Show funny man Jon Stewart , Gabby Douglas and Burmese leaders Mohamed Morsi and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie all made it into the top ten. However, some of the highest vote tallies got a boost from members of Internet forums like 4Chan who launched a campaign to manipulate the results pushing North Korea s supreme leader to the .

The largest number of no way votes went to Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi. Despite his unfavorable ranking, his inclusion on the poll has elicited a flurry of passionate responses on social media, as did TIME s recent cover story .

Other notable inclusions prompted plenty of online chatter, even if it didn t result in a top ranking: Pakistani schoolgirl and girls education advocate Malala Yousafzai , who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for her outspoken activism, placed 15th; Korean rapper Psy , creator of the Gangnam Style -sensation and the most-watched video in YouTube history, placed 17th.