workers party in a general meeting of the central commission, the party's leadership body. no images have been made public so far. members of the party's central military commission lead the korean people's army. 19 people, including kim jong-il have been chosen as members of the commission. kim jong un who was earlier given the title of four star general has been named vice chairman of the central military commission, a new post. 30 years ago when kim jong-il first appeared in public as the successor to his father, he was also chosen as a member of the central military commission. jim jiang ill's younger sister kim kyong hui has been named a member of the politic bureau and her husband jang song thaek is a candidate for a polit bureau post. they are expected to act as kim jong un's guardians. kim jong un is to succeed his father as leader but little is known about him. even basic facts have long been shrouded in mystery. >> such things as the year of kim jong un's birth cannot be asser tainas ass asser -- acertained with certainty. it is widely thought the heir apparent was born in 1983 but some experts suggest 1984 is the more likely year. in the late 1990s kim jong un studied

apparent promoted in the last few days to the general and of course the almost unprecedented korean workers' party conference is opening today and it's expected that following that conference you will be getting a high position in the party i think that's a signal to the rest of the world maybe not to korea that in fact he's been designated as the successor to the kim jong il some stage in the future and will he be bringing change with him if he doesn't succeed as you've mentioned the serious change going on in pyongyang with a chance that many senior think is could be replaced by people who have more experience in dealing with the west could this be an indication do you think that the country is going to break from its self-imposed isolation well i think we need it we need to look wider than just who is if you want being indicators the is the next leader of this party conference is going to see some i suspect unprecedented strangers in terms of generational changes in the in the leadership of the korean workers party we've already seen that some people like you. both who've been negotiating with

third son, kim jong un, has been named vice chairman of the central military commission of the korean workers' party. the announcement suggests that kim jong un has officially been chosen as kim jong il's successor. the wednesday morning report says the decision was made at the conference of the workers' party and the general meeting of the central commission, the party's leadership body. no images of kim jong un have been made public so far. members of the party's central military commission lead the korean people's army. 19 people, including kim jong il, have been chosen as members of the commission. ♪ kim jong un, who was earlier given the title of four-star general, has been named vice chairman of the central military commission, a new post. 30 years ago, when kim jong il first appeared in public as the successor to his father, kim il song, he was also chosen as a member of the central military commission. kim jong il's younger sister, kim kyong hui, has been named as a member of the politburo and her husband jang song thaek has been chosen as a member of the central military commission and is a

military and korean workers parties officials met on wednesday in pyongyang. prime minister choe yong rim stressed the significance of the party's first conference in 44 years scheduled to open this month. kim was absent from the meeting. choe was quoted as saying the entire nation is taking part in efforts to hold the upcoming conference. a new lineup of top party officials is expected to be announced at the conference to facilitate the succession. kim's youngest son, kim jong-un, is seen as the most likely candidate to succeed his father. attention is focused on whether he will be given a top executive post at the meeting. north korea's state-run media have reported that regional representatives are arriving in pyongyang to take part in the conference, but they haven't reported the exact start date. >>> the mmander of the u.s. pacific fleet says he is wary of north korea's moves toward the eventual transfer of power from leader kim jong-il to one of his sons. admiral patrick walsh told reporters in tokyo on wednesday that the u.s. navy should expect instabil

suspect unprecedented strangers in terms of generational changes in the in the leadership of the korean workers party we've already seen that some people like you. both who've been negotiating with the americans i've had recent promotions within the supreme people's assembly and within the ministries it looks like it looks like this is a if you're a generational change and not merely the if you're signaling of eventually will succeed kim jong il so what do you make of the view that america simply needs a sort of bad guy in the region to justify its military presence in the southern part of the korean peninsula and japan and and to justify the pointing it missile defense systems that there are certainly people in japan within within the former ruling party the neo cons there and people within the united states administration not all of them there are tensions in there who actually find it very convenient. excuse to deploy missile defense in japan which obviously deters the north koreans but at the same time pressure on the chinese to move more money into their military and of course the analysis of th

it's reckoned to be the most important meeting of the north korean workers party in decades but no one outside the country knows whether it's actually taken place yet the world's been watching and waiting as analysts believe leader kim jong il would use the meeting to present his youngest son kim jong un as his successor his successor a veil of secrecy still in shrouds the gathering but r.t. has shed light on another mystery of the reclusive state's ruling dynasty. is the second leader of north korea and the son of its new president officially kim jung il was born in one thousand nine hundred two in japanese occupied korea according to move the korean history books his birth was followed by the. new story in the heavens but there's a different story me north koreans may knew about this as they all came also many as some currently does north korea both used to leave. this is very scary several dozen miles away from the city of kut us in russia's far east back in a man nine hundred forty s. it was the home of a joint chaney's korean guerrilla regiment fighting against japan before north

nephew years of the end of the korean war, china and the soviet union directly interfered in an internal party matter following the august planning of the korean workerscommittee. no question about it, they directly battled in the internal party affairs. chemical son would refer to this years and years later -- chemical some would refer to this years and years later -- kim il-sung would refer to this later. it would refer to chinese interventionist policies and a big power chauvinism. during the revolution, we had china and meddling in internal party affairs and there were even disputes, armed clashes along the border in the vicinity of [inaudible] mountain. the chinese oppose the succession of kim jong il. the north koreans have very good reasons not to trust china completely. and to be concerned about china reasserting their traditional hegemony over the korean peninsula. for that reason, i'm surprised we are asking china to become so involved -- we asked china to do our dirty work by bringing the north koreans back to the six party talks. we asked the chinese to become more and more involved in helping us approach the north. what we are essentially

workers party conference. here is our correspondent from the south korean capital. >> one day after its workers party conference drew to a close, north korea released the first television pictures of the rare event -- a stage-managed showcasing the best of totalitarian tradition. the leader is there, seemingly in better health, telling officials that have done enough applauding for now. but in the front row, clearly a little better fed than the vast majority of his fellow countrymen, and seated between two military officers is his third son. it is the first official glimpse of the likely future face of north korea. his rise has been rapid and remarkable. during the party conference promoted from and the body to high military and political office. previously, he has never even been named, let alone shown by the north korean media, and only a few grainy childhood images have been seen here in the outside world. all information is tightly controlled in one of this most authoritarian of states. this time the message is clear. in this photograph showing some 200 officials at the conference, the front row says it all

t storynce agai nor korean leader, kim jong il has named his third son, kim jong un, a four-star general in the military. it comes a day before a key gathering of the workers party. the official korean central news agency made the announcement early on tuesday. the opening day of the conference. it marks the first time that the son's name has ever gone public. kim jong un is also expected to be given a high ranking party post to succeed his father. the announcement said the leader's younger sister, kim yu in everyone g he has also been promoted to a four-star general. she's considered to be a caretaker for the transfer of power. >>> japanese prime minister, naoto kan said he's thinking of attending the asia-europe meeting in belgium next week. he's expected to seek the support of the participating countries over a maritime collision between japan and china near the senkaku islands. speaking to reporters on monday, kan said asean leaders and many european countries will be at the meeting, and he thinks japan should be represented. >> translator: >> kan would meet leaders through bilateral talks on the sidelines of the two-day meeting starting monday. he would exp

. >> some news just in -- the north korean state news agency says the ruling workers' party congress is to hold a special meeting on september 28th to elect new party leaders. the once in a generation conference is expected to put kim jong il's third son firmly in line to succeed him. it is 10 years since the un marks the new millennium by setting out ambitious development goals. today, a special summit is under way to look at what has and has not been achieved in the last decade. more than 140 leaders are meeting to review progress. among them, the french president who suggested new funds could be raised from a tax post on transactions. un secretary general, ban ki- moon says that some progress had been made but the profit -- but the clock is ticking. >> we have the power at this very hour, none of us can be truly [unintelligible] why some many lack the bases -- the basics for life and dignity. none of us should be able to rest easy knowing the fear and despair. let us make this investment in a better future for all. there is no global project more worthy. let us send a strong messa

. >> the party meeting was a historic event, and the korean people highly proclaim our respected general as general secretary of the workers' party of korea. >> if it had been official policy to praise the leader's son, that man would certainly have done it. it is clearly going to take time to build up kim jong un as his father's successor. >> stay with us if you cannot on bbc world news. still to come -- a fifth of the world's plant species are now in danger of disappearing forever. first, she is said to be one of the most photographed people on our planet. a new exhibition of formal photographs document the life of britain's queen elizabeth in pictures. many were taken by her late sister's husband, the photographer lord snowden. >> on her right, mr. anthony armstrong jones. >> he was a society photographer who took pictures of the royals and then became one. tony armstrong jones's wedding to princess margaret was the society event of 1960. although he was not a member of the royal family, lord snowden continued to work as a professional photographer. alongside his documentary work, he was often called on to photograph th

. >> north korean state media reported that the youngest son of kim jong il has been named vice chairman of the central military commission in the ruling workers' party. appointed to the post at the first major party conference since 1980. this comes after being promoted to the rank of four-star general. the news was announced on north korean state television. observers have been speculating that he could be named the successor to kim jong-il at the conference. the navy has intercepted another vessel attempted -- attempting to bring supplies to the blockade in gaza. a group of 10 activists were aboard from israel, britain, germany, and the u.s.. they had set sail from cyprus on sunday. israel came under criticism in may after they stormed a flotilla killing nine turkish activists. the police in paris have reopened to the eiffel tower, forcing the evacuation of one of the world's busiest tourist sites. there is an official warning that the country might be a target of a terrorist attack. monday a major train station was cleared after a warning that proved to be a false alarm. the police evacuated 2000 people from the eiffel tower that was also a false

the youngest son of the north korean leader kim jong-il has been appointed to the love of the highest jobs in the workers party, another sign he is being groomed to take over for his father. i correspondent filed this report from neighboring south korea. >> hundreds of delegates in largely identical suits headed to the party convention. hundreds of others passed along the vast, empty boulevard. propaganda, as i have your tomorrow, which would not be difficult. -- promised a happier tomorrow, which would not be difficult. they tried to stabilize at north korea's unpredictable politics. >> state television announced the rise of the third generation. his youngest son in his mid-20s, has been made at general. his main qualification for being air apparent -- he was educated in switzerland, and therefore must understand the blast. -- the west. her husband is thought to be the real power behind the throne. covering north korea is a family business. it started in 1945 with the founding of the state by "the great leader," kim il-sung. kim jong-il is called "the der leader." and now his son will take the soap opera into

military and korean workers puerto fishes met on wednesday in pyongyang. the prime minister stressed the significance of the party's first conference in 44 years, scheduled to open this month. kim was absent from the meeting. he was quoted as saying, the entire nation is taking part in efforts to hold the upcoming conference. a new lineup of top party officials is expected to be announced at the conference to facilitate the succession. kim's youngest son, kim john un, is seen as the most likely candidate to succeed his father. attention is focused on whether he will be given a top executive post at the meeting. north korea's state-run media has reported that regional representatives are arriving in pyongyang to take part in the conference. they haven't reported the exact start date. the commander of the u.s. pacific fleet says he's wary of north korea's move toward the eventual transfer of power from leader kim jong-il to one of his sons. admirable patrick walsh told reporters in tokyo wednesday that the u.s. navy should expect instability with any sort of succession planned by the north. >> history has proven that

korean t.v. reports that danielle's condition is not serious enough to cancel the conference it's believed the rail workers party gathering to speed up plans to name him son a successor to the frail leader who's thought to have suffered a stroke two years ago. and electoral campaigning in guinea for its first democratic votes has been suspended because of ongoing violence supporters of the former prime minister clashed with supporters of the opposition leader over the weekend leaving at least one dead and dozens injured the presidential election is the first in the small west african state since it gained independence from france more than fifty years ago. i live twenty four seven here and there are also more stories features blogs and much more on our website to skip along to our team dot com where there's plenty more to discover and it's just a short look at what's right for you right now no clowning around the start of the rushes most of them just demonstrates their deep feeling make up and they read as. if you think hollywood movies have told you all there is to know about russian mobsters we just smart have

korean t.v. reports that came jong il's condition is not serious enough to cancel the conference it's believed the red workers' party gathering will speed up plans to name kim's son the successor to the frail leader who's thought to have suffered a stroke two years ago. you're with r.t.l. will live twenty four seven and there are also more stories features and blogs and a lot more on our website if you could have a look at r.t. dot com here's just a few of the things which might catch your eye right now. no clowning around this time as russia's most renowned jester demonstrates their deep feelings behind the make up underwritten one. hundred think hollywood movies have told you all there is to them about russian mobsters you just might have a few surprises in store for you just go to auntie dot com and take russian mafia quiz. show. singapore is being accused of expanding its coastline with illegally dredged saddened from neighboring states in the last fifty years the small island nation has increased its territory by more than twenty percent but as our teams were often often reports it seems the singapore is benefi

korean t.v. reports that kim jong il condition is not serious enough to cancel the conference it's believed the rare workers' party gathering will speed up plans to name kim's son as successor to the frail leader who's thought to have suffered a stroke two years ago. singapore is being accused of expanding its coastline with illegally dredged sand from neighboring states the last fifty years the small island nation has increased its territory by more than twenty percent but as our teams were a financial reports it seems only singapore is benefiting from shifting sands. seem to be who has one of the world's most prosperous and fastest growing economies the tiny island one of the smallest twenty nations in the world is growing fast to. the key global shipping hard its fast food conflicts is happening expanding relentlessly in the sea by land reclamation. we have been taking sail from our hills and then. when there are no more hills then we have been breaking from from the sea a bit. more thought it is being reported from a neighboring country. singer who is today the world's biggest importer of sand literally the fo

workers party positions. it's confirmation. it will certain be seen that he's his father's closen successor. >> but we still don't know much about him. >> north korean's will know nothing. he's thought to have spent a number of years in an international school in switzerland. that will make him a more internationally-leader. he's a blank slate and that gives you a sense of the real difficulties. there's no mechanism for handing over power. this man has been seemingly plucked from nowhere and put in charge of a state with serious nuclear ambitions. >> on related news. south korea's ministry announced they will hold talks for the first time in two years. the ministry says the meeting will make place between the two countries. >> western intelligence agents say they have uncovered a plot to carry out commando-style raids in britain and germany. the tower was evacuated. and they're not expecting an imment wave of arrests. our security correspondent gave us the details. >> intelligence agencies have been tracking the most al-qaeda attacks. the jihadist would murder them in britain. france and germany. the idea is thought to moved from the aspirational stag

workers party. like the vice chairman of all the stuff. the official koreanentral news agency said that his son, the son of kim chong-il, is named vice chairman of the central military commission and is the first known political post for his youngest son. we think he is 26 or 27 and he has no expense in absolutely anything and now he is in charge. congratulations to our grew friend. continuing coverage of other top story, big changes ahead for the obama administration. the white house chief of staff, rahm emanuel, is expected to step down to run for mayor of chicago. but he says he has things to work out. we will know by friday. an announcement could come by then. but rahm emanuel's departure could leave a big hole to fill. the chief of staff is responsible for overseeing the white house staff and is the gatekeeper to the oval office and he decided who gets to the president. so what does this mean for president obama? six weeks ahead of the midterm election? with us is the cofounder and executive editor of the website. what does it mean for all of us would wa

korean leader kim jong-il has named his third son, kim jong-un a four-star general in the military. north korea's state-run television made the special announcement on tuesday, the opening day of the workers party conference. it marks the first time that the son's name has ever been mentioned in public. kim jong-un is also expected to be given a high-ranking party post to succeed his father. the announcement said the leader's younger sister, kim yong he, has also been promoted to a four-star general. it's thought she will serve as care taker until power is transferred to kim jong-un. now little is known about kim jong-un, even basic facts about jong-un, who is likely to succeed his father as leader, have been long been shrouded in mystery. >> such things as the year of kim jong-un's birth cannot be acertained with certainty. it is widely thought that the heir apparent was born in 1983, but some experts suggest 1984 is the more likely year. in the late 1990s, kim jong-un studied in switzerland for several years. at school, he used the name pak un and it is said he identified himself as the son of the north korean ambassador to switzerland. one of his former classmates says he was polite and quic

korean analysis. host: what is important to note about the workers' party in korea? guest: this is the first time they've had one of these conferences in 40 years. clearly, it's important. they may formally announce kim's son as the next leader or it may be more subtle than that. host: mainly how? guest: the last several years or decades, the military has presumed a dominant role. the national defense is really the first part of the government. now what they may be doing is trying to bring a greater importance to the worker's party to perhaps level out the playing field. host: what do we know about korea's leader? guest: there's a mad investigation trying to find out. host: some reports say we don't even know his age guest: that's right. they have changed his birth date. they will make him a year older so that during the important 2012 year, his 30th birthday will line up with his father's 70 th birthday which lines up with his grandfather's 100 th birthday. in korea, it's the men that lie about their age. there were rumors before that he had travelled to china. it s

be a four-star general in the north korean military which puts him in a position to take over for his father when the time comes. >>shepard: the ruling workers partys together and their first meeting in 44 years, and what do we expect they will do? >>guest: they have only had this meeting three times, in 1963 they named the successor, and in 1980 and now this time. we will see a bunch of appointments, some military, and some party, that will consolidate the leadership as kim chong-il would like for when he is ready to step down and it centers around his son we have been talking about, his sister, a younger sister and his brother-in-law. these are three people in the immediate circle of the family that run the country. >>shepard: people do not have good jobs and the poverty level is extremely high, and i guess now there are some analyst whose have concern that the military could be in some sort of disarray as a result of this and i am sure that is what they are trying to avoid. >>guest: this is unprecedented. the only industrialized society in modern history that has suffered a famine because of economic mismanagement not because they don't have th

north korean leader kim jada has appointed his youngest son and other family members to senior post in the ruling party the step was made hours before convention of the workers' party the move is seen as a part of a plan to extend the kim dynasty in the reclusive communist state into a third generation. thirty three miners trapped underground in chile for about two months could be out earlier than previously thought rescue workers say they can get the job done by the middle of october but they also warned that unforeseen problems could slow their work however the country's government still insist it could take until early november to get them out so that brings us up to date here in r.t. for more you know log on to our website r t dot com right now though we'll take a look at what's happening in the world of business careers here in just a few moments. for the. voice face to face with the news maker. good morning and welcome to business program good to have you with us businessman investing investors tender and this will get support from the government promises of a push in pledge to ask bankers for smaller credit rates for a long time investors on a visit t

northern korean leader kim yon ale has appointed his youngest son and other family members to senior post in the ruling party the step was made hours before a convention of the workers' party the move is seen as part of a plan to extend the kim dynasty to the reclusive communist state into third generation. thirty three miners trapped underground in chile for about two months could be out earlier than previously thought rescue workers say they can get the job down by the middle of october but they also warned that unforeseen problems could slow their work however the country's government still insist it could take until early november to get them out. seventy two years ago major european powers signed the munich pact in an effort to appease hitler but many of you it is a treaty that essentially gave hitler the green light to annex what was formally known as cho slovakia r.t. looks at whether the world has learned any lessons from past. nineteen thirty nine lin and friends try to reason with hitler germany demands of the land and gets its way they all thought they had created a safety net for themselves. thirty nine the whole of europe is involved in war efforts to e

indications that the youngest sonof north korean leader kim jong-il is being groomed to succeed his father. today he was elected to leadership roles in worker parties. his father just made him a four star general. it was the first time kim jong-un's name had been mentioned in the media. he's the son who's most like his father. other than that, very little is known about him. kim jong-il is 68 years old and has been in poorle th. >>> classmates are mourning the death of a local football player who diedfter last weekend's four years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholefor giant cable cable companies. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the last four years, he worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even aank that took billions from a taxpayer funded bailout. cehrlicsides with corporatet executives again and again and again tell bob ehrch big banks and billionares don'need help. middle cde do. >>> more of a pretty soggy sounding weather forecast. >> we talked about this last week. we talked about it yesterday. we really need to see some rain, something tropical to b

korean politics today with r.t. . and. i . thank. you. let's see what russians think about its nuclear program. a first in three decades north korea is the ruling communist party the workers' party of korea needs to discuss the transition of power analysts expect few changes in pyongyang's foreign policies but focus will surely be on the states nuclear ambition the russian public opinion research center all citizens if north korea's position of nuclear weapons would pose a threat to russia's national interests forty seven percent of russians believe it would to six percent disagree the workers' party congress is widely seen the first public steps in leadership change as it was in nineteen eighteen when kim jong il made his political depute. ok now i'd like to go to you it's still in the cards that the north korean state could collapse because of its economy because of just too many resources being poured into the military let's talk about scenarios here right now we have we have. thirty eight thousand american troops south of the border we have a country parts of it are are experiencing famine it's a pretty large population twenty two million people and what let's talk sc

korean people nor for south korea and american allies. now, what happened today is that there was a big party meeting. the workers' party.time they met on this scale in 30 years. don't get excited, when you talk about party these are people that debate and people that rubber stamp the decisions taken by kim jong-il and just ahead of that meeting today is the appointment of his youngest son, kim jong un. he has had no military experience. hard to see what experience he has had at all. the only thing we can say for sure about him is that we think he was in school in switzerland and we think he is about 28 years old. some reports depict him as being quite a fun-loving sort of guy that likes baseball, the nba and others say he's vindictive just like his father. even the photographs that purport to be of him, two photos have been circulated and it's disputed. some analysts here say that's not him at all. so, he is an enigma but the other thing we can say for sure is that his father, kim jong-il is a sick man. he had at least two strokes and the speculation that he may not have that long to live. so, he wants to keep, keep nor

north korean leader kim jong il has promoted his youngest son kim jong un to the rank of general and what's seen as the first step of a power transition and came before the country's ruling workers' party gathered for its biggest convention in decades no official announcements were made on the issue of succession has been shrouded in mystery but as r.t. is getting us out of a reports that practice is not uncommon in north korea. and the twenty first century everything is global and all kinds of information is available online but there remains a lot of mystery in the world wide web that is north korea that many are pretty trade secrets but like an exception steve was one of you to visit the place and hopefully will share his impressions a alex so tell me you were in place yang what's it like what's your biggest impression be honest with you when i was going there i felt a little nervous haven't read all the stories about north korea in the west media that it's a scary place it's all the different sort of scary things when i arrived there i thought it was nothing like that but the one thing we should rescue the most of the first days and first hours thing is i saw a building on the othe

korean leader kim jung il has made his youngest son of four star general in a promotion seen as the first step towards hunting of a power point was made before conventional the country's ruling workers' party the first in decades at the historic meeting awarded he. and other family members to oppose the moves of helping extend the communist and to into a third generation. of. world attention is turned on north korea for the first workers party meeting in thirty years there are rumors of imminent change but that according to those in the know is premature. kim jong il became a leader first and foremost thanks to his image of a true follower of his father's legacy ideas and not as some distort of the foundations or as the person to lead the country's policy into a sharp turn so obviously the same is going to apply to kim jong il's successor north korea's nuclear ambitions troubled the west and the secretive states tightlipped policies and everything has been successfully used as a tool by countries such as the united states. the united states in particular need a bad guy in the region to justify their military presence in the southern part of the korean peninsula and japan and for deploy mis

video shows members of a workers party being bussed to the country's first party meeting in 30 years. don't worry, folks, on the bus, they're not going to be busted. north koreans: look at that. it looks so natural. >> steve: it's not -- >> brian: take it from me, it's hard to master the dance. >> steve: you would know. before the meeting kim jung-il promoted his youngest son to a four star general. experts say the move guarantees that his son will succeed his dad. >> gretchen: sad story now, a top chef from new jersey who was featured on gordon ramsey's show, kitchen nightmare, apparently has committed suicide. 39-year-old joseph sirniglia found in the hudson river. believed he jumped. he was deep in debt, he survived by his wife and three children. >>> a contestant on another show committed suicide in 2006. >> brian: did delta airlines know about the problem before a plane with its right wheel got jammed up? it came in for a landing at jfk. it's very possible the faa issued what's called on air worthiness directive about the same kind of plane last july. the directive was to correct a problem with the landing gear. by the way, any other planes like that out t