(AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appears to have recovered enough from a stroke to run the country without difficulty, South Korea's spy chief said Tuesday, but Japan's prime minister said he likely is issuing orders from a hospital bed. Prime Minister Taro Aso told lawmakers in Tokyo that his government had information that Kim likely remains hospitalized. "His condition is not so good. However, I don't think he is totally incapable of making decisions," Aso said.
| "Nurse! He's doing it again!" |
South Korean and U.S. officials say Kim, 66, suffered a stroke, reportedly in August. North Korea has strenuously denied there is anything wrong him. On Tuesday, North Korea's military warned the South to stop its "smear" campaign designed to discredit Kim and the Stalinist nation, threatening to reduce the country to rubble. "The puppet authorities had better remember that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything opposed to the nation and reunification to debris," the North's military said in a statement.
The threat comes a day after North Korea demanded during brief talks at the Demilitarized Zone that South Korea stop activists from sending balloons filled with anti-Kim leaflets across the border. The South Korean government says it cannot prohibit them, citing freedom of speech.
The North also criticized remarks earlier this month by South Korea's Gen. Kim Tae-young, who told parliament that the military was prepared to attack suspected nuclear sites if the North tries to use its atomic weapons on the South.
Tensions on the divided Korean peninsula have been high for months with Pyongyang embroiled in an international standoff over its nuclear program and concerns mounting over the North Korean leader's health.
Kim disappeared from public sight in mid-August, missing a September military parade commemorating the 60th anniversary of the country's founding and sparking rumors about his health.
