According to Bloomberg, an anonymous source connected to the Kim regime said that doctors from the German Heart Institute in Berlin arrived in Pyongyang prepared to perform major surgery on the dictator, but found only one clogged artery.

"The 65-year-old Kim, who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, recovered well from the surgery," the article quoted the source as saying.

A spokesperson for the German institute confirmed that the doctors had visited Pyongyang and treated three workers, a nurse and a scientist.

Japanese weekly Shukan Gendai reported last Friday that Kim suffered a heart attack in mid-May and entered a Pyongyang hospital where he received heart-bypass surgery from the German doctors.

(englishnews@chosun.com )