Rumors are growing that reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health is failing. Following the first report on the matter by the Chosun Ilbo on May 28, Japan's Shukan Gendai on Saturday reported that Kim had heart surgery by a team of German doctors, and the U.K.'s Telegraph on Monday wrote that he can barely walk 30 yards without tiring. On May 29, U.S.-based MSNBC wrote on their website that U.S. intelligence officials confirmed that they are "taking seriously recent reports of a deterioration" in Kim's health. A well-informed source on North Korean matters said on Monday, citing diplomats in Beijing, that Kim has been seen being carried into and out of a car, and an intelligence official said there is credible information that Kim's movements have changed recently. Experts on North Korea agree that Kim has a heart problem. A heart specialist at Severance Hospital in Sinchon said, "It is natural for movement to be impaired when a person has a heart problem." Baek Seung-joo, chief researcher with the North Korea division of the Korean Institute for Defense Analysis, said that Kim had a medical exam in China in January because of his heart condition. Former North Korean leader and Kim Jong-il's father Kim Il-sung died suddenly of a heart attack in 1994, meaning the family has a history of heart problems. Senior officials in the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said they are gathering information about Kim's worsening health, including reports of heart problems and diabetes, and that the NIS is conducting a detailed probe into Kim's condition. "The NIS is looking into a report that a German doctor performed heart surgery in North Korea in mid-May. Whether Kim Jong-il was the patient is not clear, but we're trying to trace the facts," an NIS official said. South Korean government officials maintain that Kim seems to be having no serious problems executing official business, since he was seen taking part in a nine-day trip to Kanggye and Sinuiju in late May. There are rumors that the North may be using a "phoney Kim" who resembles the dictator, but those rumors are "hard to evaluate," a government official said. If there were any urgent business to do with Kim's health, the official said, "suspicions would have been triggered by the movements of North Korean diplomats in China or military forces near Pyongyang." The most recent view of Kim was a brief appearance in a broadcast by the official Korean Central News Agency, which makes it hard to determine his health. But a medical specialist at Asan Medical Center said, "Considering Kim's diabetes, high blood pressure, and family history of illness, there is a high likelihood that these things will lead to complications such as a heart attack or a stroke." (englishnews@chosun.com )
Pyongyang watchers agree that Kim Jong-Il The Chairman of the Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and defacto dictator, is having health trouble.  Due to the secrecy of the North Korean regime only small bits of information are available.  Kim is reported to have difficulty walking unassisted and is reported to be frail.  Due to these symptoms, Kim's obvious obesity, and the fact that a team of German cardiologists has been dispatched to Pyongyang; It is believed Kim is suffering from congestive heart failure.  Kim's father Kim Il-Sung died of heart failure in 1994.