Kim Jong-il Looking Leaner Than Before
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
The latest pictures released by the (North) Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) showed a much thinner Kim Jong-il, 67, than a couple of months ago.
A picture, reportedly taken during a tour of the Kim Il-sung University's new swimming pool facility and released late last week, seemed to be clear confirmation of Kim's deteriorating health.
While visiting the swimming complex, Kim appeared to be thinner than in January when photographs were released by Chinese media after his rare meeting with a Chinese official in Pyongyang.
Kim's iconic belly has disappeared and wrinkles on his neck couldn't be more pronounced.
Rumors first surfaced last summer that Kim had experienced deteriorating health after suffering a stroke.
Speculation continued to arise as some European doctors were reported to have traveled to Pyongyang, yet nobody would confirm it. Kim is now believed to have recovered considerably.
The weight loss was a side effect of the stroke, experts said. When brain function deteriorates, it could create an impact on the function of internal organs, they added.
And for Kim, the digestive system must have been affected, according to doctors.
What has risen to the surface along with Kim's health problems is who will ``inherit the throne.''
As Kim's third son Jung-un, 26, has been mentioned as the most probable candidate, Yonhap News Agency over the weekend reported on Jung-un's childhood.
Quoting L'Hebdo, a weekly magazine published in Switzerland, Yonhap said Jung-un was a student at the International School of Berne, Switzerland, for two years.
Consisting mainly of children of foreign diplomats, the report said, Jung-un went by the name Park Chul, and could speak the regional German dialect fluently.
The son is remembered as a quiet and introverted student, yet, with leadership capability, a teacher was quoted as saying.
He added, ``When he left he was in either the ninth or 10th grade. He participated in the school basketball and swimming team.'' Jung-un left Switzerland in 1998.