South Korea was on alert yesterday for possible political change in its nuclear-armed neighbor following the disclosure that longtime North Korean leader Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, who told parliament Kim had undergone surgery but was recovering, said a military plan was being drawn up for any contingency.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told security ministers and aides that “thorough preparations should be made to minimize confusion over changes in North Korea’s political circumstances.”
South Korea is still technically at war with its communist neighbor. The two forces face off across a heavily fortified border, with US troops backing the South.
Kim “collapsed because of a brain problem and had surgery from which he is recovering,” Lee Sang-hee was quoted by lawmakers as telling a closed-door session of the legislature’s defense committee.
Officials said earlier on condition of anonymity that Kim, 66, was thought to have undergone surgery, but this was the first confirmation.
Seoul officials believe Kim is still in charge of affairs in North Korea, one of the world’s most reclusive regimes. But analysts fear the powerful military could assume more power in any post-Kim era and take a harder line on nuclear disarmament and cross-border ties.
The defense minister, quoted by lawmaker Yoo Seong-min, said no unusual troop movements had been detected in the North and South Korea’s military was maintaining its customary alert level.
Asked if Seoul should revive a joint US-South Korean contingency plan to prepare for sudden political change in the North, the defense minister said relevant agencies were in talks toward a strategy “in preparation for a [possible] limited provocation or a full-scale war.”
Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified top diplomatic source as saying there was no sign of any power vacuum in the North.
“Key policy decisions are being made normally,” the source said.
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