Report: Kim Jong Il Has Pancreatic Cancer

South Korean Television Says N. Korean Leader's Cancer Is Life-Threatening; Looked Weak in Recent Photos

(AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has life-threatening pancreatic cancer, a news report said Monday, days after fresh images of him looking gaunt spurred speculation that his health was worsening following a reported stroke last year.

The 67-year-old Kim was diagnosed with the cancer around the time he was felled by the stroke last summer, Seoul's YTN television reported, citing unidentified intelligence officials in South Korea and China.

The report cited the officials saying the disease is "threatening" Kim's life.

Pancreatic cancer is usually only discovered in its final stage, and considering Kim's age, he is expected to live no more than five years, the report said.

The American Cancer Society lists rather less optimistic data; it says about 20 percent of people live at least one year after they discover they have pancreatic cancer but that fewer than 5 percent survive as long as five years.

South Korea's spy agency said it could not confirm the YTN report. Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters he knows nothing of the report. Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young also said he had no information.

Kim's health is a focus of intense media speculation due to concerns about instability in the North and a possible power struggle if he were to die without naming a successor. His third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, has widely been reported as being groomed as heir, but the regime has made no announcement to the outside world.

North Korea's closed nature and its state-controlled media make it all but impossible to verify reports about Kim's health and his successor.

Monday's report came after Kim last week made a rare public appearance at an annual memorial for his late father and North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. It was only the second state event he has attended since the reported stroke.

Television footage showed him markedly thinner and with less hair. He also limped slightly, and the sides of his tightly pursed lips looked imbalanced in what were believed to be the effects of a stroke.

The images touched off speculation that he could have other health problems.

South Korea's spy agency has long suspected that Kim has diabetes and heart disease.

Medical doctor and professor Min Yang-ki of Seoul's Hallym University Medical Center has said diabetes usually leads to weight loss. The neurologist also said Kim's limping appears to be a result of a stroke. However, he said, overall it appeared Kim has recovered from that reported illness.

Kim walked on his own into a Pyongyang auditorium for last week's memorial at a normal pace and bowed while standing during a moment of silence.

North Korea experts said the latest images of Kim show he is still fit enough to rule.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, said he doubts the YTN report about pancreatic cancer because the number of Kim's "field-guidance" trips to workplaces has increased significantly this year.

"Would he be able to carry out such brisk activity while having pancreatic cancer?" Yang said.

Seoul's Unification Ministry, which closely monitors the North, said late last month that Kim made 77 trips to factories and farms across the nation through late June, compared with 49 visits made during the same period last year.

Kim Jong Il took over North Korea after his father died in 1994 of heart failure at age 82, though he did not take on his father's title of president. He runs the North from his post as chairman of the National Defense Commission.

In early April, he presided over a parliamentary meeting where he was re-elected as leader.

The South's spy agency believes that Kim's 26-year-old youngest son, Jong Un, is sure to succeed his father, Seoul's Chosun Ilbo daily reported Monday, citing a recent report to the National Assembly by the National Intelligence Service.

The agency also reported that Kim Jong Il is expected to officially designate the son as his successor in 2012, the centennial anniversary of late national founder Kim Il Sung's birth, the paper said.

But the regime under the son is expected to be unstable and vulnerable to internal political strife as Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law, Jang Song Thaek, could attempt to snatch power, the paper said.

A U.S.-based scholar who recently traveled to Pyongyang said Saturday that he thinks the son's official designation is expected to come "relatively soon."

"In the past, talking about succession is almost taboo," University of Georgia political scientist Han S. Park told The Associated Press. "But on this trip, I was able to discuss this with officials and acquaintances."

Park said the consensus among the North Koreans he met was that the next leader would be a person who "inherited Kim Il Sung's thoughts, Kim Il Sung's characteristics and Kim Il Sung's leadership."

[ianlou]

Hey Kim Jong Il,
If the pain get too bad, here's an easy out;

Declare yourself a normal citizen without protection
and wait five minute for one of your loyal citizens to show up and smother you with your own pillow.

[thusspokezara]

Dear Supreme Leader. You gotta fish or cut bait. Are you going to invade South Korea or not? Your time is running out. A good time would be between now and Labor Day when Americans will be enjoying their vacations. By the time they notice, you will be in Seoul. Are you gonna go quietly into that good night or are you gonna rage against the dying of the light?

[iowa0319]

5 years too long...

[All_pols_need_2_go]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!

[YCantWeAllGetAlong]

Karma. I hope his last days are as tortured, painful and sorrowful as the millions of his own people he put into camps and killed their families and unborn children. Good riddance.

[ahrats]

Ill's illness make me wonder how fit he is to rule? He may want to push the button before he goes, he has the nuke warheads and now the missels to launch them. Does the world wnat to find out the hard way or destroy the launch sites now.

[snowylynne]

The sooner the better..........

[tmn]

If he is looking "gaunt" at this point, 5 years survival ain't gonna happen - more like 5 months.

[bradkt1]

Ordinarily, I wouldn't wish pancreatic cancer on anyone, but in this case, I hope that this story is true...and that the cancer is very, very aggressive. The sooner this madman dies, the better. Let his death be a very painful one and may it come soon...the sooner the better.

[harpoot]

Grear news. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving despot.

[proudmilvet]

Hoping that North Korea holds elections, is like hoping that the Republican party will one day come back to Reality!

[hamiltongrad]

what are you taking for meds ?

[maghop]

ahahaha!! proudmilvet!!!couldn't have said it better!! thanks for the laugh!!

[tmittelstaed]

It was a bit difficult to keep the cult of personality that built up around Kim's father going for his son, but they managed it. I think it will be harder still with Kim's children. Hopefully Kim's death will be the first steps the North Korean's take towards actually considering their leaders as leaders, rather than as personalities. If Kim's son Kim Jong Un cannot effectively run the country, let's hope that the North Korean's might consider holding elections.

[proudmilvet]

After "Dear Leader" Cashes it in, maybe we can send them the Republican Party's "Dear Leader",Rush Limbaugh.

[Stormy500]

Sorry, the Korean people, North or South, would not tolerate such obesity in a man. When such obesity of the rear-end occurs in a wealthy individual, it is a sign of greed and selfishness. Ask any Korean (politely).

[taxchurches]

It's a good thing it doesn't require brains for your mouth to work, or you "conservatives" wouild starve to death. "Appeasement," please. What exactly has Obama done to appease N. Korea? Did he send them arms shipments, like Reagan did with Iran, in the 1980s? You dimwits need to understand words before you start trying to use them. Trying to reach a non-military solution to problems is not appeasement, it's diplomacy and good sense -- especially when your military is already spread all over the place fighting foreign wars. For people who pretend to love soldiers so much, you're sure in a hurry to send them off to die. N. Korea is the size of Mississippi; a war with them would last about half an hour. If they were to successfully launch one missile that hit anything, they would be signing their own death warrant, and both Obama and Kim Jong Il know that, even if you do not.

[babooph]

This "new" concept of economy& politics,[communism],seems a lot more like feudalism-not very new-the trust fund babies in the States & Europe seem like they will get rid of that problematic middle class& go to feudalism too.

[nopucker]

Maybe they'll give him a little too much radiation... I hope it hurts like hell.

[thusspokezara]

Dear Supreme Leader, the time is now. You must invade in the next two months before the coming of inclement weather. You can probably overrun South Korean defenses in less than 72 hours. Once you occupy Seoul, you are in the drivers seat. The Americans air superiority will be worthless then. It would require 1/2 a million American ground troops to dislodge you. Obama will simply stand by and "bear witness." The USA is exhausted and demoralized. Most Americans could not pick out South Korea on a map. They are unlikely to support a war to dislodge you. You gotta fish or cut bait.

[Dgunner]

This is a statement from the head of ignorance. You have no idea. The USS NIMITZ could take north korea without one sailor getting thier feet wet.The people of the UNITED STATES doesnt depend on ignorance like yours to win wars. We depend on it to start them.

[toldyouso29]

Pancreatic cancer is usually found in its final stage, and considering Kim's age, he is expected to live no more than five years, the report said. "

Make it about 2 years, Pancreatic cancer is almost always fatal and prognosis is very, very poor. he will be lucky if he is alive by Christmas--maybe now would a good time for the dear leader to stop being a butt and actually think about something for his people instead of just for himself.

[Stormy500]

He has all the look of cancer, and pancreatic cancer is most insidious. I believe a life expectancy of 5 years is being very generous. My hopes are high for the freedom of the North Korean people once this man is gone.

[hamiltongrad]

He will not last 5 months by the look of him.

[thusspokezara]

Dear Supreme Leader. Sorry to hear about the pancreatic cancer. Are you still in charge? Whoever is in charge you gotta fish or cut bait. There has never been a better to overrun Seoul. Mr. Obama is very unlikely to respond. He is the timid leader of an exhausted and demoralized country that is overextended militarily. Sure, the US has air superiority, but they are not gonna bomb Seoul once you have occupied it. Once you have occupied it then you can use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations over your nuclear program.

[stuart2020]

And you can thank George Bush we are militarily over-extended. Him and Cheney...the war criminals.

[ibsteve2u]

A perfect example of rightie logic: If they can't have it, they would rather see it destroyed.

Is why I always worry about one of them pulling a McVeigh. Again.