Speculation is flying over the health of North Korea's leader after he missed a huge parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of North Korea's founding. Kim Jong-Il would normally attend a public event like the military parade held to celebrate the anniversary, so his absence has the rumor mill humming. The secretive nature of North Korea’s government, plus the fact that Kim hasn’t been seen in public in month has only made the situation worse.
US intelligence sources believe that Kim may have had a stroke late last month and could be in "grave" condition. South Korean officials report that medical experts from both France and China have been rushed into North Korea to treat him. Kim is 66 years old and widely thought to have serious health problems including a heart condition and diabetes.
Then there is a report from Japan that Kim Jong-Il actually died in 2003 and that the role of Dear Leader Kim (his preferred form of address) has been played by a series of body doubles for the past five years.
Running North Korea has been a Kim family enterprise since its founding. Kim Jong-Il father Kim Il Song (known as "Great Leader") ruled the state and groomed his son to succeed him. Even today Kim Il Song is regarded as a sort of deity in North Korea. Kim Jong-Il took over after his father died in 1994. Who will take over for him though is a mystery. He has at least four sons, his eldest Jong Nam was the likely successor until he got caught up in a very embarrassing incident in 2001 - he tried to sneak into Japan using a fake passport, his goal? A visit to Tokyo's Disney Park. That incident knocked Jong Nam out of the rotation, Kim Jong-Il now seems torn between two of his other sons.
But no matter which son (or whomever else) he picks, real power in North Korea will still lie with the country's armed forces. North Korea maintains one of the world's largest militaries.
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