Applause as North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il enters the Workers' Party Meeting in Pyongyang where the 68-year-old leader is reappointed Secretary General of the country's ruling party. Earlier the North ailing leader gave his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, his first public title, naming him a general in a move analysts say marked the first stage of a dynastic succession in this secretive state.
The United States is watching developments in North Korea carefully but the implications are still not clear. State Department spokesman P.J Crowley: I was supposed this is perhaps the ultimate reality show, unfolding in North Korea and we are simply in watching this very closely.
Kim Jong-il is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but despite his declining health, experts say he is not expected to go into retirement just yet. They say his son who is in his mid-20s is too young and inexperienced to fully take the reins.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.
