North Korea ? North Korean leader Kim Jong Il promoted his youngest son to army general in an announcement today seen as official confirmation that the young man is being groomed to succeed his father.

The dispatch on North Korean state media came just hours before the nation was to hold the largest Workers’ Party convention in 30 years, a meeting where Kim Jong Un was expected to make his political debut.

The much-delayed meeting in Pyongyang has begun, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported late this morning, citing Minju Choson, a government-run North Korean newspaper. The report could not be verified.

The announcement that the elusive Kim Jong Un was promoted to general, along with his aunt and four others, marked the son’s first ever appearance in North Korean state media.