NORTH KOREA IS TO HOLD is biggest political meeting in decades next week as questions surround the identity of Kim Jong-il’s successor.

The ruling party’s summit was due to take place earlier this month, but was postponed without explanation until 28 September.

The last meeting of such importance was held in 1980, when Kim Jong-il was marked as his father’s successor, according to the Financial Times.

Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s third son, is tipped to fill his father’s post. He is described as an “inexperience, untested young man who has no political legitimacy other than his birth,” by the BBC, which has drawn up a family tree denoting the possible line of succession from Kim Jong-il.

He could be given a key position within the party as a means of paving the way for him to take the leadership.

The conference could see a reshuffle within the party or the military, the Washington Post writes, as the successor attempts to build his own power base.

A US senate hearing recently pointed out the gaps in international intelligence on North Korea. Senator John McCain asked a State Department official responsible for the region to assess Kim Jong-il’s plans to continue with a hereditary leadership transfer.

The official responded: “Your guess is as good as ours, senator.”