Asia, North Korea | featured news

North Korean state media released a photograph on Thursday of the reclusive state's leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-un.

Youth is not considered an asset in the nation, where mandatory lectures have billed Kim Jong Eun, Kim Jong Il's twentysomething son, as a political breath of air. In a region where Confucian thinking about seniority still holds sway, where political life generally begins at 50, it isn’t easy to sell the public on a twentysomething who has never held a real job.

The Sept. 28 meeting could signal the formal designation of Kim Jong-il’s youngest son as his heir apparent.

The first congress in three decades of the ruling Workers Party is rumored to be imminent, suggesting that a succession is being prepared that will hand power to a third generation of the first family.

The two countries seemingly renew their vows as Communist brethren, with China's Hu Jintao promising to help develop his ally's economy and North Korea's leader expressing desire to resume nuclear talks. Chinese President Hu Jintao promised North Korean leader Kim Jong Il help in developing the North's economy while Kim spoke of his desire to restart talks on the nuclear program during a summit Friday in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, the Chinese government said Monday.

There is no official confirmation of the reclusive leader's travel or its purpose. The son is expected to be named as Kim's successor. In a trip shrouded in mystery and speculation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appeared Thursday to be traveling to China by train with his youngest son, according to a South Korean government official.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has proposed a plan to reunite his country with North Korea and suggested a tax to prepare for the costs expected if the two countries come together, South Korea's state media said Sunday.

North Korea fired more than 100 artillery rounds Monday on its side of the border with South Korea in the Yellow Sea, South Korea's Defense Ministry said.

A South Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan and its seven crew members are being held by North Korea, according to reports in South Korea.

South Korean troops fired artillery and dropped sonar buoys into the Yellow Sea as naval drills kicked off Thursday near the spot where a warship sank four months ago.