North Korea released a photograph yesterday showing leader Kim Jong-il smiling and watching a football match — the latest apparent attempt to calm intense speculation over the health of the country’s absolute ruler.
Kim, 66, reportedly suffered a stroke and underwent brain surgery in August.
North Korea has denied he is ill and has in recent weeks released news reports, photos and footage portraying the leader as active and able.
Yesterday, the North’s state television showed an undated still photo of what it said is Kim watching a football match between two army-affiliated teams and talking with people, said the South Korean Unification Ministry, which has copied the image from the broadcast.
The photo shows Kim sitting with other people and watching something from what appears to be a special viewing stand. Kim is shown smiling, wearing his trademark sunglasses with a brown jacket and black pants, but scenes of any football match are not visible.
The North’s TV broadcast other shots showing Kim in the same clothes talking with people near a field, although no football players are seen. Separate photos released show standalone scenes of a football match near a small hill with trees showing autumn foliage.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon said his ministry has begun analyzing the photos with outside experts. He declined to provide details.
Earlier yesterday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim attended a football match between Mangyongbong and Jebi teams of the North Korean’s People’s Army together with military personnel. The report did not say when and where the game was played.
The agency said Kim expressed “great satisfaction over a high level of the game played by them” and praised the army for leading the country’s songun, or military first, policy.
Speculation on Kim’s health spiked after he missed a key national celebration marking the country’s 60th birthday on Sept. 9. He had disappeared from public eye since mid-August.
Last week, South Korea’s spy chief, Kim Sung-ho, said that the North Korean leader appeared to have recovered enough to carry out his official duties, although he was “not physically perfect.”
Japan’s Fuji television has reported that Kim’s eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, flew recently to Paris to recruit a neurosurgeon to treat his father. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso told lawmakers last week that the French doctor boarded a flight to Beijing, perhaps en route to North Korea.
Kim Keun-sik, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyungnam University, said the North released the photos to show the outside world again that Kim Jong-il has no health problems in running the country, because “speculation on his health has been endlessly raised.”
North Korea has been seeking to tamp down rumors about Kim’s health with news reports and footage portraying the leader as active and able, attending another soccer game and inspecting a military unit. The reports, photos and video are undated.
Last month, North Korea released photos showing Kim inspecting a military unit and appearing healthy. However, it did not say when the pictures were taken, sparking speculation that the photos might have been old because the lush green foliage appeared not to match the Korean Peninsula’s current autumn season.
Kim, who rules the Stalinist nation with absolute authority, has not publicly named any successors, leading to concerns about an uncertain future in the impoverished, nuclear-armed country.
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