North Korea rehearses

North Korea has staged a fullscale rehearsal for its biggest political conference in 30 years amid predictions that leader Kim Jong Il will use the meeting to give a ruling party position to one of his sons.

North Korea has said it will hold a rare Workers' Party conference early this month to elect new party leaders, sparking speculation that it could be linked to Kim's moves to groom his third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as his successor.

Yesterday's rehearsal was cut short because of rain.