Kim Jong: ill?

(Newser) - A wildly cheering orchestra audience greeted North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il at his first major public appearance since his suspected stroke in August, reports Reuters. Western intelligence experts began speculating in September that Kim was seriously ill—or dying—when he failed to appear at an important military parade at that time. He has recently made a number of small-scale visits to factories and farms. More »

(Newser) - US intelligence officials believe North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has recovered from a stroke he suffered last August, and has been making public appearances, Reuters reports. The 66-year-old dictator recently inspected army units and a ceramics factory, according to North Korea's state-controlled media. One appearance is believed to have taken place last week. More »

(Newser) - North Korea today made good on its threat to restrict border crossings from South Korea, severely hampering trade and ending tourism with its neighbor. The move, blocking large numbers of South Koreans and reducing border-crossing hours, is a protest against South Korea's new hardline president that negates years of hard-fought progress. It's likely also a signal to Barack Obama not to underestimate North Korea, reports the Los Angeles Times. More »

(Newser) - Uncertainty grew this morning about the health of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Il after a Japanese television station reported that he has suffered a second stroke, Reuters reports. The claim came from a source connected to an American intelligence agency, but South Korean officials rejected the assertion. North Korea has failed to release any proof that Kim is in good health since the stroke he is widely believed to have had in August. More »

(Newser) - Kim Jong-Il’s brother-in-law is running North Korea as the dictator recovers from a stroke, experts tell the Times of London. South Korean analysts say that while Kim is conscious and probably mobile, he remains weak. But Pyongyang appears to be functioning normally in the hands of Chang Sung Taek, 62, the head of the country’s secret police. More »

(Newser) - Recently released photos of Kim Jong-il are baffling observers, who still speculate the North Korean leader may have suffered a stroke despite officials’ insistence otherwise, the New York Times reports. One photo has green foliage, although North Korea’s trees are now sporting autumn colors; in another, Kim’s left hand appears immobile—hinting at a stroke. More »

(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. More »

(Newser) - Adding to the evidence that Kim Jong-Il is in grave health, the North Korean leader’s eldest son was filmed while apparently securing the services of a brain surgeon in Paris, the Times of London reports today. Fuji TV also showed clips of an unnamed surgeon being driven in a car owned by the North Korean embassy to de Gaulle airport for a flight to Beijing—the usual connection to Pyongyang. More »

(Newser) - North Korea sent 10 missiles to test-launch sites off the Yellow Sea today and halted UN monitoring of its nuclear complex, Reuters reports, in the latest hardline signal from the Communist regime as it flirts with scrapping a nuclear disarmament deal. Meanwhile, Pyongyang tested two ship-to-ship missiles in the West Sea on Tuesday, reports Chosun Ilbo —at an estimated cost of $1 million to the impoverished nation. More »

(Newser) - North Korea's Kim Jong-Il, rumored to be seriously ill, made his first public appearance in nearly 2 months, says the state news agency. It offered few details and no photos, but said that Kim attended a recent soccer match between universities and congratulated the players afterward, Reuters reports. US and South Korean officials suspect the 66-year-old leader suffered a stroke, but North Korea denies it. More »

(Newser) - With Kim Jong Il conspicuously out of the public eye in recent months, some speculate that his death could shatter the North Korean government and precipitate humanitarian and possibly military crises. But the reality of succession, Philip Bowring writes in the International Herald Tribune , is likely to be far more orderly, and to unfold much more slowly. More »

(Newser) - The Bush administration felt a pending bittersweet goodbye when news leaked that North Korea's Kim Jong-Il likely had a stroke last month, the New York Times reports. True, officials had called Kim a "tyrant" and a "pigmy," but they knew he kept close tabs on his nation's nuclear arsenal. Now North Korea, like Pakistan, is a volatile country without a dictator to keep its nukes in check. More »