North Korea's Kim Jong Il had brain surgery after a stroke last month and could have partial paralysis on one side, media reports said Thursday, after the South Korean government said the communist leader remained in control of his country. Foreign doctors, possibly from China and France, performed the operation after Kim, 66, collapsed about Aug. 15, the newspapers Dong-a Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing unidentified government officials.
Kim's condition has improved and he is not suffering from slurred speech, a disability often associated with a stroke, the reports said.
If Kim were incapacitated, it could have serious implications for international negotiations on North Korea's nuclear disarmament. The talks recently hit a snag because of a dispute between North Korea and the U.S. over how to verify the North's nuclear programs, and a delay by Washington in its promised removal of North Korea from a list of nations that sponsor terrorism.
"I only hope that any situation happening in DPRK should not affect negatively what has been going on in terms of denuclearization process" U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference on Thursday at the United Nations, using the initials of North Korea's official name.
"I'm also concerned deeply by DPRK's decision to go back to reassembling the nuclear facilities. They must commit to their agreement among the six-party talks for the early realization of the denuclearization process," said Ban, who was South Korea's foreign minister before taking the helm of the U.N. in January 2007.Lee Cheol-woo, a South Korean ruling party lawmaker, said in a radio interview Thursday that Kim is "recovering fast," has "no problem speaking and communicating," and is "able to stand if assisted."
The lawmaker, a leader of the parliamentary intelligence committee briefed by the country's spy agency Wednesday, did not give further details.
However, South Korea's largest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, said the stroke had left Kim with "partial paralysis." It quoted an unidentified senior government official as saying, "I understand that he is suffering inconvenience on the left part of his body."