Seoul - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has recovered enough from an apparent stroke and brain surgery to brush his teeth unaided, a South Korean government official said on Friday.
The disclosure that Kim underwent brain surgery last month for a stroke has heightened uncertainty in South Korea about the future of its nuclear-armed neighbour.
Government officials in Seoul have tended to stress that the 66-year-old is recovering fast and still in control. But media reports and a legislator speak of some degree of paralysis and irregular convulsions.
"He's recovered enough to brush his teeth by himself," a government official told the national news agency Yonhap on condition of anonymity.
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"However, the South Korean government is still closely watching Kim's health and other situations in North Korea in anticipation of any emergency there."
The official told Yonhap that while Kim is believed to have collapsed from a stroke, the possibility of some other kind of damage to blood vessels in the brain cannot be ruled out.
Legislator Chung Ui-Hwa told a radio programme that Kim is thought to have suffered some partial paralysis on one side.
Chosun Ilbo newspaper said Kim is suffering irregular convulsions and that Chinese authorities believe his long-term ability to govern will be impeded.
Although he is recovering, the convulsions prevented him appearing at a key parade marking North Korea's 60th anniversary on Tuesday, the paper quoted a diplomatic source based in Beijing as saying.
It said a senior Chinese official, who met Kim in the capital Pyongyang a few days before the anniversary, reported the symptoms to Chinese authorities, but said Kim's speech and mental abilities were unimpaired.
Chinese intelligence authorities think Kim's strength will decline drastically, considering that he must avoid stress and his activities will be restricted, the newspaper reported.
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