North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il
But with Kim's recent health scare, analysts were looking for signs of whether he was ready to groom one of his sons as an heir to the world's only communist dynasty.
news.bbc.co.uk
Kim's third son, 26-year-old Jong-Un, has been cited as a possible successor. And he could be running in this election. The secretive nation shields its internal affairs from international scrutiny.
But Kim has two other sons, both of different mothers, and they were believed be vying for power.
Each of the 687 districts in the country are fielding one candidate.
By noon, about 71 percent of registered voters had turned out, according to the official Korea Central News Agency.
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