North Korea's ruling party will hold its first conference in a generation on 28 September, state media reports say, amid speculation¹ that leader Kim Jong-il is about to name his successor.

朝鲜执政党将于9月28日举行近一代人以来的首次会议，据官方媒体报道，领导人金正日可能会在此次会议上提名他的继承人。

Kim Jong-il is believed to be in poor health

The Workers Party is widely expected to promote Mr Kim's third son, Kim Jong-un, to a senior position.

Observers believe a promotion² would anoint（涂油） him as the heir to his father, the self-styled Dear Leader.

Mr Kim, 68, is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008.

The Korean Central News Agency carried a short statement early on Tuesday announcing the party meeting.

"The conference of the WPK [Workers Party of Korea] for electing its supreme³ leadership body will take place in Pyongyang on 28 September," the statement said.

The announcement ends weeks of speculation about the date of the meeting, which is believed to have been delayed several times.

The news agency gave no indication of why it had been postponed⁴ thus far.

Kim Jong-il was promoted at a previous conference in 1980, which at the time was seen as confirmation⁵ that he would succeed his father, Kim Il-sung.

He eventually became leader after his father's death in 1994, and has led the country into isolation⁶ from the outside world.

In recent years Mr Kim is believed to have sought medical treatment in China, one of the country's few allies. Neither nation has confirmed details of any illnesses or treatments.

Last year, rumours⁷ emerged from the secretive state that Kim Jong-un, thought to be aged⁸ 26 or 27, was his father's chosen successor.

Little is known of Swiss-educated Kim Jong-un, and he has never been photographed by Western media.