Leader casts his vote with son and heir

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Il cast a ballot yesterday with his son Kim Jong Un in local elections in the capital Pyongyang in what has been seen as another step toward strengthening the younger Kim's power as ruler-in-waiting. TV footage showed people dancing outside a polling station and reviewing a list of the candidates.

Women in traditional dresses lined up near a large sign that showed a smiling man in a western-style suit dropping a ballot into a box, the message below reading: "Let's all vote for approval!"

North Koreans receive ballots that leave them with little choice but to approve candidates who have already been selected by officials. In a 2007 local assembly vote, candidates were elected with total support and voter turnout was near 100 per cent.