SEOUL, April 7 -- North Korea was to convene its rubber-stamp parliament Thursday amid keen interest on whether its ailing leader, Kim Jong-il, would promote his heir-apparent son to another top post. The session comes amid lingering tensions on the Korean Peninsula over Pyongyang's two deadly attacks on the South last year, which killed a total of 50 South Koreans, mostly soldiers.The North's annual session is the first since Kim named his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Worker's Party and a four-star general last year for what could be another hereditary power succession.
North Korea usually holds a parliamentary session one or two times a year to assess spending and accomplishments of the previous year and to approve the current year's budget.
The session has drawn keen attention from officials and analysts in South Korea and other regional powers as they try to find any clue on whether the 69-year-old leader will appoint Jong-un as a member of the National Defense Commission in Thursday's session.