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Kim Calls Shots from Hospital: Japan

Leader is sick, but able to run the country

By Ambreen Ali, Newser User

Posted Oct 28, 2008 1:22 PM CDT

(Newser) – Kim Jong-Il is probably in the hospital but still calling the shots, Japanese PM Taro Aso says, citing intelligence reports and adding that if the North Korean leader were incoherent, "we would be seeing different developments." A Japanese professor returning from Pyongyang says North Koreans are calm, a sign that Kim is not as gravely ill as the world suspects, reports AFP. He adds that, should the leader's condition worsen, the military seems prepared to step in and preserve the regime.

South Korean protesters, with a defaced portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and North Korean flag, shout a slogan during a rally. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Japan's Taro Aso said if Jong-Il were unable to make decisions, we would be seeing "different developments." (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

The 66-year-old recluse has been rumored gravely sick since he missed an anniversary parade last month. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Yao Dawei, File)

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Kim Calls Shots from Hospital: Japan

Leader is sick, but able to run the country

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