Adding substance to rumors about his declining health, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il looks worse than two months ago, when he attended a ceremony to celebrate the 75th birthday of the North Korean Army. Seen meeting the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Tuesday, the 66-year-old North Korean leader looked thinner, with serious hair loss and dry skin.
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In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, left, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, right, for farewell in Pyongyang on Tuesday./Xinhua-AP
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A South Korean intelligence official said that Kim underwent bypass surgery in May but is not in critical condition. Doctors here said he looked like a patient recovering from heart surgery. According to a cardiologist at Yonsei University¡¯s Severance Hospital, if a man over 65 has bypass surgery, it takes him one or two months to fully recover. The doctor added the patient could lose weight if he has not been well nourished, and hair loss is a possible side effect. Kim disappeared from public view for more than 25 days since May 4.
At the time, a Japanese magazine and Bloomberg reported that a German doctor performed heart surgery on Kim, and the U.K. Telegraph reported he was barely able to walk 30 yards without tiring. A cardiologist at Asan Medical Center said it is naturally difficult for a bypass patient to walk. Kim has appeared in public 29 times in the first half of the year, less than half the number of occasions during the same period last year.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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