ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last updated: 4:18 pm
September 9, 2008
Posted: 9:53 am
September 9, 2008
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea's all powerful Kim Jong Il did not appear today at a parade commemorating the country's founding 60 years ago amid intensifying speculation the leader of the communist state may be seriously ill.
Kim was not seen in North Korean state television footage, though other key leaders, most notably the country's No. 2 official Kim Yong Nam, were shown watching the surprisingly low-key ceremony in Pyongyang's main square.
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North Korea's state news agency, in a dispatch about the parade hours after it ended, did not mention any appearance by Kim. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported from Pyongyang that Kim did not attend.
Western intelligence officials said Kim's failure to appear at a key national event may indicate that he is seriously ill and could even have had a stroke, though they cautioned that such speculation had not been independently confirmed.
The 66-year-old Kim, who has been rumored to be in varying degrees of ill health for years, took over the reclusive state upon the death of his father - North Korea's founder - 14 years ago. The younger Kim attended the parade in on the 50th and 55th anniversaries and was widely expected to do so this year as well.
The leader's health has been a focus of intense interest because his fate is believed to be closely tied to that of the totalitarian state that he took over in 1994 in communism's first hereditary transfer of power.
Perhaps because of his absence, the celebration lacked much of North Korea's trademark military display and failed to match a South Korean news report that had predicted it would be the largest military parade ever. Still, it took on a decidedly martial flavor, complete with goose-stepping and uniformed civilian militias and light military vehicles.
Kim Ho-nyeon, a spokesman at South Korea's Unification Ministry, said Tuesday that officials there have obtained intelligence that Kim's health has worsened, adding they were trying to confirm them.
In the past, South Korean intelligence has said Kim suffers from diabetes and heart disease. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper, South Korea's largest, said Tuesday Kim collapsed last month.
North Korea's state media made various mention of Kim throughout the day, noting he had received congratulatory messages from foreign leaders, but gave no hint of his whereabouts.
Kim Yong Nam, the No. 2 leader, was quoted as telling a banquet in honor of the anniversary that North Korea "has a rosy future of a great prosperous powerful nation under the leadership of Kim Jong Il," according to the Korean Central News Agency.
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