Talk swirls that Kim may be gravely ill

A South Korean newspaper reported that Kim collapsed Aug. 22, but it also said there did not appear to be a panic over his health in the capital. Today, the North's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong Nam, said there is "no problem" with the supreme leader, and a senior diplomat said the reports of ill health are "not true," according to Japan's Kyodo News agency.

Some observers, noting there have been repeated reports about Kim's health, cautioned against reading too much into the latest batch.

"He is going to die sooner or later, and eventually one of these reports about his health will be true, but this one is probably much ado about nothing," said Andrei Lankov, a respected Pyongyang watcher and a professor at South Korea's Kookmin University.

He said the extreme secrecy surrounding the North Korean regime made it unlikely that either the United States or South Korea had reliable intelligence.

Kim's last public appearance was Aug. 14, when he was reported by the state news service to have inspected a military unit. However, it is not unusual for him to disappear for months at a time.

Sean McCormack, the chief State Department spokesman, said that while it was difficult to interpret the actions of the Kim regime, U.S. officials have noticed recently that the North Koreans have not been moving ahead in talks on ending their nuclear program with representatives of the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

Pyongyang and those five countries have been at an impasse over inspections to verify claims North Korea made in a statement in June about the condition and contents of its nuclear arsenal.

Pyongyang last fall began taking apart its aging nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in a deal under which it is to receive aid in exchange for disarmament. But last month, North Korea said it was considering restoring the plant to operation because the Bush administration had not made good on its pledge to remove North Korea from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

U.S. officials say that step can't be taken under the deal until North Korea agrees to an inspection program.

North Korea's plutonium-based weapons program is believed to have produced the fissile material used in a nuclear blast in October 2006. But North Korea also is known to have received parts and plans for developing a uranium-enrichment program from renegade Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Adding to Western concerns, North Korea has in the past been eager to export weaponry.