Son gets French surgeon for Kim

Tokyo, Oct. 27: The eldest son of North Kor-ea’s leader Kim Jong-il is believed to have visited a Paris brain surgeon who apparently flew to Pyongyang to treat his father, Japanese television reported on Monday.

Speculation about Mr Kim’s health has swirled since he failed to appear at a key anniversary parade in early September, and US and South Korean officials say the 66-year-old recluse is believed to have suffered a stroke. Japan’s Fuji television showed footage from Paris of a man it identified as Mr Kim Jong-Nam, the eldest son of the North Korean leader.

"He is believed to have met with a French brain surgeon, who later departed from Paris for Pyongyang under North Korean escort," the network said.

Mr Kim spent two hours in the hospital last week where he is believed to have visited its neurosurgery department, it added.

As he left the hospital, the man — stout, and clad in a dark pin-striped suit with a red tie — did not reply to questions about Kim Jong-il’s health, only getting into his car with a slight smile and waving.

The network said a French brain surgeon then appeared at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport two days later and said in French he was going to Beijing, the usual connection point for Pyongyang.

Fuji television did not identify the doctor and blurred his face. It said the doctor did not deny he was going to Pyongyang and was taken to the airport in a car owned by the North Korean mission to Paris-based Unesco.

North Korea has denied that Mr Kim Jong-il has health problems, and last week denounced Japanese newspapers for reporting.

—AFP