North Koreans dance at a ball held to congratulate the country's leader Kim Jong Il on his re-election as general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea in the Arch of Triumph in central Pyongyang yesterday.

NORTH Korea's Kim Jong Il made his youngest son a four-star general in a major promotion seen as confirmation that he is slated to become the country's next leader.

The announcement was published in state media hours before a historic Workers' Party meeting in Pyongyang yesterday where Kim, 68, was expected to grant son Kim Jong Un and other family members top posts.

The North Korean capital was in a festive mood, with banners and placards celebrating the country's biggest political gathering in 30 years. Kim Jong Il was re-elected to the party's top position of general secretary.

Footage shot by broadcaster APTN later showed buses carrying party delegates leaving Pyongyang, a sign the gathering may have ended.

It was the North Korean state media's first mention of Kim Jong Un, who has remained so well hidden from the outside world that not even his face or exact age can be confirmed. He is believed to be 27 or 28, and is said to have been schooled in Switzerland and educated at Kim Il Sung Military University in Pyongyang.

He is expected to take up other top military jobs such as commander of the 1.2 million-member military, analyst Cheong Seong-chang of the private Sejong Institute think tank said.

Kim Jong Il was 31 when he won the No. 2 post in the ruling Workers' Party in 1973, an appointment seen as a key step in the path to succeeding his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

The following year, Kim was formally tapped as the future leader but state media did not reveal that to the outside world until the landmark 1980 convention, the last big political meeting in North Korea. He took over as leader in 1994 when his father died of heart failure.

It's not known what kind of party position Kim Jong Un might be granted. Some predict he'll win the same post his father took 37 years ago: party secretary authorized to supervise party members and appoint top party, government and military officials.

Kim Jong Il, said to be suffering from diabetes and a kidneyailment, reportedly had a stroke in August 2008.

Kim has two other sons but the youngest is said to be his favorite. However, with Kim Jong Un still in his 20s and politically inexperienced, Kim Jong Il may tap his sister to oversee an eventuallytransfer of power, experts say.

Sister Kim Kyong Hui, 64, was among six people promoted to general along with Kim Jong Un, and her name was listed ahead of Kim Jong Un's in the Korean Central News Agency report.

• triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• commander [kə´mɑ:ndə] n.指挥员，司令员 (初中英语单词)
• institute [´institju:t] n.学院 vt.建立；设置 (初中英语单词)
• failure [´feiljə] n.失败；衰竭；破产 (初中英语单词)
• appoint [ə´pɔint] vt.安排；委派；任命 (初中英语单词)
• suffering [´sʌfəriŋ] n.痛苦；灾害 (初中英语单词)
• transfer [træns´fə:] v.&n.迁移；调动；转让 (初中英语单词)
• agency [´eidʒənsi] n.代理商；机构；代理 (初中英语单词)
• congratulate [kən´grætjuleit] vt.祝贺 (高中英语单词)
• promotion [prə´məuʃən] n.促进；提升；倡仪 (高中英语单词)
• announcement [ə´naunsmənt] n.通告；宣布；言谈 (高中英语单词)
• historic [his´tɔrik] a.有历史意义的 (高中英语单词)
• switzerland [´switsələnd] n.瑞士 (高中英语单词)
• founder [´faundə] n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
• predict [pri´dikt] v.预言；预告；预示 (高中英语单词)
• confirmation [,kɔnfə´meiʃən] n.证实；证据；确认 (英语四级单词)
• gathering [´gæðəriŋ] n.集会，聚集 (英语四级单词)
• formally [´fɔ:məli] ad.形式地，正式地 (英语四级单词)
• ailment [´eilmənt] n.疾病；精神不安 (英语四级单词)
• eventually [i´ventʃuəli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)
• festive [´festiv] a.喜庆的，欢乐的 (英语六级单词)
• landmark [´lændmɑ:k] n.界标；里程碑 (英语六级单词)
• supervise [´su:pəvaiz, ´sju:-] v.管理，监督 (英语六级单词)
• kidney [´kidni] n.肾；性格；脾气 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
• inexperienced [,iniks´piəriənst] a.缺乏经验的 (英语六级单词)