Kim Jong Sick
North Korean Envoy Denies Leader Kim Jong Il Is Sick
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A North Korean envoy, preparing for talks today with South Korea on energy aid, said reports that leader Kim Jong Il is sick are ``nonsense.''
They are ``spread by those who wish the worst for our republic,'' Hyun Hak Bong of North Korea's Foreign Ministry told reporters before the meeting at the village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
Hyun is meeting with Hwang Joon Kook, South Korea's deputy chief nuclear negotiator, to discuss providing energy aid to the communist country under a six-nation agreement and restarting work to disable the Yongbyon reactor.
South Korean officials have cited intelligence reports saying Kim suffered a stroke in the past month. Kim, who has led the impoverished nation of 23 million people since his father Kim Il Sung died in 1994, failed to attend 60th anniversary celebrations on Sept. 9 of North Korea's founding, fueling speculation about his ill health.
