North Korea

Kim suffered stroke but will recover, say South Korean spies

Article published on the 2008-09-10 Latest update 2008-09-10 15:43 TU

Kim Jong-Il
(Photo: Reuters)

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il has suffered a stroke but will recover, representatives of South Korea's intelligence agency told parliament on Wednesday. An unnamed lawmaker quoted an intelligence official as saying that Kim was unable to attend celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the state's foundation "due to the aftereffects",  according to the Yonhap news agency.

"Kim suffered either a stroke or a cerebral haemorrhage, but is recovering, the intelligence agency said. Pyongyang is not in a state of administrative vacuum," Won Hye-young, the floor leader of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party, told reporters after attending the closed-door parliamentary session on Wednesday.

"Although Kim is not fit enough for outside activity, he is conscious and able to control affairs," he said, adding that the North Korean leader cannot walk.

"It’s known that Kim Jong-Il seems to have some diabetes problems and blood problems in terms of the heart issues," South Korean analyst Noh Jong-Soon told RFI.

Yang Moo-Jin, of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, told the AFP news agency that French and Chinese experts have entered North Korea to treat Kim Jong-Il "but it remains unknown what condition he is in".

Possible successors to Kim Jong-il (from L-R) Jo Myong-rok, the head of the powerful Political Department of the North's army, Kim Yong-nam, 80, the head of the North Korean parliament's leadership council and is the country's nominal head of state and Kim Jong-nam, 37, the oldest son of Kim Jong-il, but many believe he has fallen from grace for trying to enter Japan with a forged passport
(Photo: Reuters)

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met his senior secretaries earlier Wednesday to discuss how to handle possible developments in Pyongyang.

Kim sent a birthday telegram to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, while de facto head of state Kim Yong-Nam told Japanese news agency Kyodo News that there is "no problem" with the leader's health.

But he conceded that Kim's absence from the celebrations was unforeseen.

"We see such reports as not only worthless, but rather as a conspiracy plot," Song Il-Ho, North Korea's ambassador handling relations with Japan, told Kyodo.

Kim Jong-Il took over as North Korea's leader after the death of his father Kim Il-Sung in 1994 but has not named a successor.