North Korea abruptly postponed today what was billed as the country's largest political convention i...

1. Page 5: What Ails North Korea's Kim Jong Il
North Korea abruptly postponed today what was billed as the country's largest political convention
in 30 years, renewing speculation that the secretive country's supreme leader Kim Jong Il may be too
sick -- possibly with diabetes -- to dominate the convention.
Experts have widely speculated that the meeting would be dialysis Technican Training a way for Kim
to promote his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as his heir apparent.
But Good Friends, a welfare group based in Seoul, says the delegates from all over the nation are
heading back to their hometowns after the convention was postponed "due to floods" and "due to
lack of quorum."
The group, quoting a representative in Pyongyang who was waiting for the meeting to convene, said
many participants could not travel to the convention "because the roads were disconnected by
Typhoon Kompasu," which hit the nation on Sept. 2.
As if to back up the speculation, Pyongyang's official state media reported today that dozens of
people were killed, 8,000 homes damaged, communications cut off, and railroads disconnected by
the typhoon.
But most North Korean watchers in Seoul believe the real reason for the delay is either because the
senior communist party officials could not reach an agreement regarding the role of heir apparent
Kim Jong Un, or because Kim Jong Il's health is seriously deteriorating.
"That typhoon hit two weeks ago. It just doesn't make sense that these most important party

2. representatives could not arrive in Pyongyang when they had a whole week to travel," said Tae-
Keung Ha, president of Open Radio for North Korea, a non-profit organization with close regular
contacts with sources inside the North.
Speculation over Kim's health has been rampant since he reportedly suffered a stroke in August
2008. Given his unquestioned dictatorial power in a nation that poses a world nuclear threat, the
status of his health has been a constant subject of a guessing game among analysts, medical experts,
and intelligence agencies that scrutinize occasional photographs and rare videos of Kim.
In the latest photo taken on Aug. 27 in China, Kim appears strikingly old and frail with visible hair
loss. Medical experts in Seoul believe the hair loss is not only from aging, but also a result of kidney
dialysis and diabetes.
"Without testing his blood, we can't for sure say he's got diabetes," Chang Won Won, medical doctor
at Kyung Hee Medical Center. "But just from the fact that he is a heavy drinking, smoking, 68-yea-
-old losing significant amount of hair in a short period of time, we can confidently guess that his time
is ticking."
Earlier this year, South Korea's Yonhap News pointed out Kim's hands has been darkening while his
nail color was abnormally whitening. Citing numerous medical analysts, Yonhap said that indicates
that Kim appears to be suffering from kidney malfunction which is one of the symptoms of diabetes.
Analysts have also been searching for evidence of the presumed stroke after two French doctors told
French newspaper Le Figaro in December 2008 that they had treated the North Korean leader for
cerebral infarction.
"If you look at the few available videos of Kim walking recently, he limps dragging his left leg. His
left arm is also just hanging there without movement," said Chul-Joong Kim, medical consultant and
chief medical correspondent for South Korea's major newspaper Chosun Ilbo.