In a year where America is so wrapped up in the upcoming presidential election, there is another leader missing in action – North Korea’s Kim Jong Il. The leader of the country didn’t make an appearance last Monday on Korea’s Thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok, causing speculation that about his health.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency is reporting that Jong, age 66, suffered a stroke in mid August and he underwent emergency surgery. The agency said it received this information from unidentified Chinese sources who said that five doctors were requested to help perform the surgery on Jong. The same sources are saying Jong still has difficulty moving his limbs and needs much rest and rehabilitation in order to recover.
In case you don’t know, North Korea has a notoriously secretive government that does things it’s own way. When President Kim Il-sung died in July 1994, he was not immediately replaced, but named “Eternal President.” Jong didn’t become General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Chairman of the National Defense Commission for another three years.
A Japanese professor has even theorized that Kim Jong Il actually died in 2003 from complications of diabetes, yet it was not announced by the government and there are now stand ins used in his place.
Jong didn’t make an appearance in April 2008 for the Olympic torch ceremony in the capital of Pyongyang, which raised suspicions as to where he was. In September, he was also a no show for the 60th anniversary of North Korea. U.S. intelligence believes he is gravely ill after the stroke. I read in one report that South Korean intelligence thinks he is indeed dead.
North Korean officials have said very little. Kim Yong-nam, a high ranking North Korean official, said only of the anniversary that “while we wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country with General Secretary Kim Jong-Il, we celebrated on our own.” It was finally confirmed by the government that he suffered a stroke, but that it was “not serious enough to threaten his life.”
Until Jong makes a public appearance, I guess rumors about his health will continue to circulate.