Kim Jong Il Convalescing By The Sea: Paper

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been living at an east coast villa since mid-May and is likely convalescing after reportedly suffering a stroke last year, a newspaper said Sunday citing U.S. and South Korean intelligence.

Kim's health has been the focus of keen attention since Western intelligence officials said he suffered a stroke in August before publicly naming his successor. South Korean officials say he has recovered, yet the 67-year-old looked gaunt when he appeared at the country's rubber-stamp parliament in April.

The U.S. informed Seoul that Kim had been staying at the villa in Wonsan since mid-May, the JoongAng Ilbo Sunday newspaper said, quoting an unidentified official privy to North Korean affairs. The report said U.S. military satellites, which closely monitor Kim's personal vehicles, had detected his movement.

The official said it was "certain" that Kim was not in Pyongyang and that South Korean intelligence authorities believed Kim had stayed at Wonsan for a long time.

Wonsan is also close to a launch facility from where South Korea said the North test-fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, defying U.N. resolutions.

The paper quoted two other unidentified officials as saying Kim was likely convalescing at the Wonsan villa.

JoongAng Ilbo said Kim may have left his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, in charge in Pyongyang, allowing him to experience running state affairs on his own.

South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers last month that Pyongyang had notified its diplomatic missions and government agencies overseas that 26-year-old son Kim Jong Un was in line to succeed his father.

But South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said last week that intelligence suggested a final decision on succession had yet to be made.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with North Korea, and the National Intelligence Service said they could not confirm the JoongAng Ilbo report. Calls to the U.S. military were not answered Sunday.

Comments

[GoodFeathers]

08:59 PM on 07/05/2009

Kim is lucky because his country doesn't have OIL.

[HGfromOmaha]

04:50 PM on 07/05/2009

Kim Mentally ILL will hold power until his last breath. Then there'll be some big ol funeral, forced crying and a mausoleum where the poverty striken knaves can go worship his dead corpse forever. Dude just needs to kick the bucket already...

[HekmabaJuzimax]

06:04 PM on 07/05/2009

After the death of the elder Il, the son will be immediately deposed as a power struggle erupts in Pyongyang. The other family members will escape to China, and Seoul will seek negotiations with the new government. Those negotiations will bear more fruit and the region will begin to stabilize.

[BigBagel]

10:37 PM on 07/05/2009

No the Kim family Dynasty will rule for a thousand years.

[diffrntdrummr]

04:20 PM on 07/05/2009

What this Bozo's got, there ain't no cure for. Not even more cowbell!

[wadenelson1]

02:24 PM on 07/05/2009

Lil' Kim must have inherited Roy Orbison's Optometrist. Hideous eyewear. Always.

[mergina]

02:00 PM on 07/05/2009

Down by the seaside, See the boat come sailing back with your contraband, See the starving children, See far too many military in bad uniforms.

[unami]

02:00 PM on 07/05/2009

Reverence alleviated by goofiness.

[smchp]

01:50 PM on 07/05/2009

The solution is so simple. N. Korea relies of foreign aid for EVERYTHING. Give them the basics like rice etc. All the things the population needs to survive. Cut them off from everything else. Especially all the things privledged people want like caviar and expensive liqour etc. They will change their tune VERY fast!

[bigironal25]

10:39 PM on 07/05/2009

There was an article in Time, a few years ago that stated that ALL foreign aid that is sent to North Korea goes straight to party higher ups and the military and none of the aid makes it to the average citizens and even as they work, they are starving to death while Kim and his military live large at the expense of the working class and why is that li'l creep always clapping!