N Korea holds rubber stamp election

North Koreans went to the polls today to elect MPs to the country’s rubber-stamp parliament as observers watched closely for hints that leader Kim Jong Il may be grooming a successor.

The poll is the first since Kim, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke last August. Elections scheduled for last year were postponed and Kim disappeared from the public eye, sparking concerns that the authoritarian leader’s sudden death could trigger chaos and instability in the impoverished and nuclear-armed nation.