Kim Jong-il`s first son signals father's illness

BEIJING/ SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's first son
has hinted at his father's health problems, saying nobody can resist the process
of aging, Chinese political sources said Thursday.
"It seems nobody can go against the passage of time," Kim was quoted by the
sources as telling Beijing officials when asked about his father last week.
"Thanks for your concerns," the 37-year-old son added. He did not elaborate
further on his father's health, the sources said.
The sources confirmed Kim's presence in Beijing and interpreted his comments as
an indirect admission of his father's illness.
"Kim told us that he will have to live between Beijing and Pyongyang for the time
being," the Chinese sources were quoted as saying. "He looks to be worrying about
the possibility that his father's health will worsen," they said.
In an apparent attempt to display Kim is running the country as usual, the
North's state-run radio, the Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said
Friday Kim Jong-il sent letters of thanks to a medical doctor in Gangwon Province
and several other officials.
They were recognized for their leading public service, the report said.
Pyongyang's news media, including KCBS, have earlier reported that Kim exchanged
congratulatory messages with Russian and Syrian leaders and sent a wreath of
flowers to a Pyongyang tomb when he was out of public sight.
Kim Jong-il's conspicuous absence from a parade marking his country's 60th
anniversary Sept. 9 had prompted rampant speculation on the leader's health.
South Korea's main intelligence agency and a key presidential aide have stated
that Kim suffered a stroke and underwent surgery in the middle of last month, but
that he has recovered well enough to brush his teeth on his own and to stand with
some assistance.
Some local news reports have alleged that his condition is more serious, however,
and that he may be unable to rule the country. The Unification Ministry said this
week it has yet to verify the reports.
Footage aired by Japan's Fuji TV on Wednesday showed a figure believed to be Kim
Jong-nam coming out of a hotel in downtown Beijing. He had reportedly been
staying in Pyongyang since late July. The TV footage led observers to assume the
North Korean leader is getting better.
Pyongyang officials, meanwhile, have denied reports on their leader's health.
"Those (reports) are the mere sophistry of those who do not want our country to
fare well," said Hyon Hak-bong, deputy chief of the U.S. affairs bureau at the
North's Foreign Ministry, on Friday.
He was briefly talking to a group of South Korean reporters shortly before the
opening of inter-Korean talks on energy aid under the framework of the six-way
talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Hyon's denial followed a similar comment by Pyongyang's No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam
last week.
Kim said in an interview with Japan's Kyodo news agency that there is "no
problem" with the top leader's health. Another senior Pyongyang official, Song
Il-ho, flatly dismissed the reports as "worthless" and "a conspiracy plot,"
according to Kyodo.
Kim Jong-il has been out of the public view for more than a month, his last
appearance being on Aug. 14 when he reportedly inspected a North Korean military
unit.
He is known to suffer from diabetes and chronic heart disease, possibly inherited
from his late father, Kim Il-sung, who founded the communist country in 1948. The
senior Kim died in 1994 of a heart attack.