The ruling party’s political bureau will make the selection at a special meeting in September. Announcement comes on the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, and a few months after the rise in tensions between the two Korean states. The future of the nation will be placed in the hands of Kim Jong-un, son of the current dictator who has been gravely ill for a long time.

Pyongyang (AsiaNews/Agencies) – North Korea's ruling Communist Party is to hold a meeting of its political bureau in September to select the new leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the North Korean Central News Agency said.

"We are now faced with the sacred revolutionary tasks to develop the WPK . . . into an eternal glorious party of Kim Il-sung and further increase its militant function and role to glorify the country as a great prosperous and powerful socialist nation,” the announcement said.

This comes as the two Koreas commemorate the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, just a few months after tensions between the two Korean states rose following the sinking of ROKS Cheonan on 26 March of this year.

Analysts say the move signals a transition of power in the secretive country.

With Kim Jong-il thought to be in ill health following a suspected stroke in 2008, it is believed that the conference will be held to elevate the status of his third son, Swiss-educated Kim Jong-un.

• north
• korea
• succession
• korean
• war
• anniversary
• kim
• jong-ul
• jong-il
• politburo