North Korea could pick a new leader this week

Workers’ Party officials are gathering in Pyongyang, and are expected to anoint Kim Jong-Il’s son as his successor.

North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il is suspected of being in rapidly declining health, and the country’s ruling party could officially endorse his son Kim Jong-un as his heir this week at a meeting of the ruling party. U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials are watching the country closely for any indication of how Jong-Il’s death could affect political stability in the country, which has nuclear capability and fragile relations with its neighbours. Kim Jong-Il has cultivated a strong cult of personality in the country and will be looking to transfer that adoration to Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be 26- or 27-years-old. Kim Jong-Il reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008, and has looked frail in his few public appearances since then.