As expected North Korea has officially denied reports of Kim Jong-il’s poor health:

Earlier in the day, North Korean officials denied that Kim may be ill or that there was anything unusual about his absence from the parade.

“There are no problems,” Kim Yong Nam, Pyongyang’s No. 2 leader and ceremonial head of state, told Japan’s Kyodo News agency, referring to Kim Jong Il’s absence.

Song Il Ho, a senior diplomat, said reports of Kim’s illness are “worthless” and a “conspiracy plot,” adding Western media “have reported falsehoods before,” according to Kyodo’s dispatch from Pyongyang.

It was not the first time North Korea had sent a message to the outside world through Kyodo. Kim Yong Nam also gave the news organization an interview two days after North Korea carried out its first-ever nuclear test blast in 2006.

In another indication that the North’s leader is alive, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim sent a birthday greeting Wednesday to Syria’s leader.

Kim wished Syrian President Bashar Assad good health and success in efforts to make the country secure and prosperous, according to the Korean-language message carried by KCNA.  [Jae-soon Chang - AP]

I heard on the radio that due to Kim’s alleged stroke he is now wheel chair bound and explains why he has not been seen in public the past month.  Also there has been no unusual troop movements within North Korea as well as any provocations on the DMZ which is leading people to believe that the regime is remaining stable despite Kim’s condition if Kim is even ill in the first place.

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