AMID TENSION WITH THE SOUTH, NORTH KOREA TO ELECT NEW LEADER

North Korea has announced it will elect new party leaders at a rare meeting in September, in what analysts are saying could be a move to strengthen the hand of Kim Jong-il's potential successor.
Kim Jong-il, who reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008, is believed to have been grooming Kim Jong-un, his youngest son to succeed him as leader.
"The political bureau of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party [WPK] decides to convene a conference for electing its highest leading body reflecting the new requirements of the WPK," the country's official Korean Central News Agency said on Saturday.

• Little is known about Kim Jong-un, including his exact age, though he is believed to be in his mid-20s.
• However, South Korea's intelligence chief has been quoted as telling a closed-door session of a parliamentary committee this week that a campaign to boost Kim Jong-un's image has been going on behind the scenes due to concerns about his father's poor health.
• There are reports that Kim may be showing the first signs of alzheimer's disease.The problem is that his son is a young man and has no experience whatsoever and the military, which has gained more power in the last few years, may not be totally on board with this transition.
• Tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul have been heightened since the sinking of a South Korean warship in late March and it also remains isolated from the international community which condemns its nuclear programme.
  South Korea has accused the North of torpedoing the warship Cheonan and is seeking to have the UN security council penalise it.
  The North has denied the allegation and warned any punishment would trigger war.

Source: Reuters