South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has ruled out any quick collapse of the North Korean regime despite reports that its leader Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke.
“The world is preparing for various scenarios, but I don’t think North Korean society will collapse that easily at the moment,” Lee told France’s Le Figaro in an interview published this week.
The transcript was released by his office yesterday.
Speculation about Kim’s illness intensified after he failed to appear at his country’s 60th anniversary parade on Sept. 9.
Officials in Seoul have said Kim underwent brain surgery following a stroke around mid-August, but is recovering and still in control.
“I don’t think North Korea would undergo any changes due to [National Defense Commission] Chairman Kim’s health problem,” Lee said. “I think North Korea is still being run under the control of Chairman Kim.”
North Korean state television on Oct. 11 aired still photographs of the 66-year-old Kim inspecting a women’s artillery base, although US and South Korean officials said they believe the photos were taken before his reported stroke.
Lee, who has been reviled by Pyongyang as a “traitor” and US “sycophant” since taking office in February, called for the North to open up to the outside world and give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.
Lee says he will link major economic aid to progress in nuclear disarmament, a stance that infuriates the North.
Meanwhile, South Korean activists said yesterday they plan to float about 100,000 leaflets into the North next week, despite threats from Pyongyang that to do so threatens a military confrontation.
The leaflets contain messages criticizing Kim, describing him as a murderous dictator and calling for an end to his rule.
Choi Sung-young, leader of the South Korean families of those abducted by Pyongyang, said his group plans to float about 100,000 leaflets into the North from fishing boats in the East Sea on Oct. 27.
He said his group and its partner organization of former North Korean defectors, the Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK), had another 200,000 leaflets ready to go at a later date.
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