10/28/2008, 00.00
KOREAS – JAPAN
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Despite claims and counterclaims, nothing is certain about Kim Jong-il’s health

Japan’s prime minister says that the North Korean leader is recovering in hospital and that he is still able to make decisions. South Korean intelligence says he is quickly recovering. The Communist regime proffers new threats against the South.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Kim Jong-il’s continued absence from public view—he was last seen on 14 August inspecting a military unit—is feeding the rumour mill as claims and counterclaims about the state of his health fly in every which way. But according to Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, the ‘Dear Leader’ is probably still in hospital, but capable of making decisions.

“His condition isn't good. But we don't think that he's in a state where he's incapable of making any decisions at all,” Mr Aso told parliament, citing intelligence sources.

Japan’s Fuji TV yesterday reported that a French neurosurgeon was on his way to Pyongyang to treat him.

Rumours about the Dear Leader’s state of health have been the object of intense speculation, especially when he missed 60th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 9 September.

Alternatively suffering a stroke or a heart attack according to different South Korean sources, some have not even excluded the possibility that he might already be dead.

However, sources in South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) have excluded this possibility saying that he “appears to be quickly recovering from a stroke” and that he “is well enough to resume his ordinary duties.”

“Although not completely fit, he appears well enough to perform his daily duties,” a South Korean lawmaker quoted NIS Director Kim Sung-ho as saying.

The same source said that the Dear Leader’s eldest son met a neurosurgeon for his ailing father in Paris, and that the latter then left for Pyongyang.

Meanwhile North Korea has threatened to take action against South Korea if the latter did not stop what it called its hostile policies.

In a press release North Korea’s KCNA news agency warned Seoul to stop activists involved in propaganda against the Communist regime.

Yesterday South Korean protesters who have had relatives abducted and held hostage in the North launched some 50,000 balloons into North Korea, carrying anti-Communist regime fliers and foreign money.

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