North Korea’s ruling party is to hold a conference next week to elect new leaders, the Stalinist state’s official KCNA news agency said on Monday.

“The conference of the WPK (Workers’ Party of Korea) for electing its supreme leadership body will take place in Pyongyang on September 28,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.

The agency gave no details of the agenda, but the conference is expected to anoint an heir as the Kim Jong-il’s health deteriorates.