Seoul - Five Chinese military doctors who were sent to North Korea last month to treat its leader, Kim Jong Il, remain in the country, strengthening suspicion that his recovery is proceeding slowly, a South Korean newspaper reported Wednesday.

North Korea might also want to keep the physicians in the country to prevent information from leaking out about Kim's health, JoongAng Ilbo said, citing intelligence officials.

The South Korean intelligence agency has said Kim, 66, suffered a stroke in mid-August and underwent brain surgery.

Whether the Chinese doctors who remain in North Korea - all neurosurgeons - performed the operation was not known, JoongAng Ilbo said.

London, Sept. 15 : With North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly suffering a second stroke, which has left him debilitated, unconfirmed rumors coming out of Pyong Yang suggest that a battle for succession has begun.

According to The Times, talk in Asia is turning to the odd cast of characters who may succeed him.

The inner workings of the Kim dynasty suggest that wives, concubines, blood brothers and old comrades are rising and falling with increasing regularity and drama.

One son is a confirmed gambler, another is rumored to be effeminate and practically nothing is known about the third.

Seoul  - What is Kim Jong Il's true state of health? North Korea's eccentric leader is the subject of speculation yet again. According to South Korean and American intelligence services, he is seriously ill and may have suffered a stroke.

North Korea has denied reports that Kim is ill; a high-ranking North Korean diplomat was quoted by the Japanese news agency Kyodo as saying they were part of a conspiracy.

Seoul - North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il is ill and might have suffered a recent collapse but is still alive, according to assessments by South Korean government officials Wednesday.

"It is certain that Kim Jong Il is sick," an unnamed intelligence officer in the presidential office told the Yonhap News Agency. "Taking various recent circumstances into consideration, Kim may have collapsed from an illness."

On Tuesday, a US official said the reclusive Kim appeared to have suffered health problems that could have been caused by a stroke.

London, Aug 21: A former Korean academic has revealed how he first met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il who was an ordinary student, who turned into a tyrant that rid Pyongyang of the disabled and ordered his entire family killed.

Kim Hyun-sik (76) recollected North Korean leader Kim’s boyhood based on his experience as a private tutor for the late Kim Il-sung’s children in the 1970s, in an article in the September-October issue of Foreign Policy magazine.

New Delhi, Mar 11: Japan is very much concerned over the alarming build up by the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean and its military presence in Asian countries like Pakistan and Myanmar. This was stated by Japanese defence scholars here today.

Professors Marie Yoshioka Izuyama and Eiichi Katahara of National Institute for Defence Studies, Tokyo, said Japan is also planning to strengthen its missile Defence Capabilities to counter possible missile threats from North Korea.