North Korean leader may have suffered stroke: reports

Speculation is swirling that North Korea's leader has suffered a stroke and is gravely ill after he failed to show upat a major national paradein Pyongyang on Tuesday.

There was no sign of Kim Jong-il, 66,at the parade marking the 60th anniversary of North Korea's founding and the country's state media was silent about his absence.

Footage on state television showed images of lower level officials on a viewing stand, watching an event that was less bombastic thanin other key anniversary years. Marching militia members and a few military vehicles circulated by a large portrait of Kim, but there were no signs of the tanks and missiles usually put on parade.

"There is reason to believe Kim Jong-il has suffered a serious health setback, possibly a stroke," a Western intelligence official told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another official said reports of Kim's possible healthproblems were based in part on intelligence gathered by several countries, while asenior U.S. officialtold the AP thatrumours had been circulating for weeks about the state of Kim's health and his control over North Korea's government.

"What we do know is that he was not at the military parade," the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity about the administration's internal assessment. "That is quite unusual and reinforces a lot of what we've been hearing."

While officials spoke on condition of anonymity, the U.S.governmenthas said little publicly. White House press secretary Dana Perino would only say Tuesday that the administration is watching the situation closely.

"There's nothing I can provide for you now," she told reporters in Washington.

Japanese scholar suspects Kim dead, body doubles used

Kim's last public appearance was in mid-August, and rumours about Kim's health began circulating soon after.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a North Korea expert who teaches at Japan's Waseda University, has even speculated that Kim actually died five years ago and that North Korea has been using body doubles at public events ever since.

Kim, known to North Koreans as "Dear Leader," took over the reins of North Korea's highly centralized Communist government when his father died of a heart attack in 1994, a death that was not reported publicly for 36 hours.

Kim has three sons from two different mothers, but has not publicly named any of them as his successor.

His rumoured health issues come as North Korea is facingthe worstfood crisis it's seen since the 1990s. Earlier this summer, the United Nations food agency warned thatflooding and poor harvestshave put millions of North Koreans at risk.

Meanwhile,North Korea is facing intense international pressure todenuclearize, with some nations accusing North Korea of not being committed to the process.

North Korea began disabling its main nuclear facilities last last year in exchange for international energy aid and other benefits. But last week, South Korea accused the North of restoring its atomic facilities in response to news that the U.S. was not removing it from a list of countries suspected of sponsoring terrorism.

North Korea's powerful military is said to be opposed to the dismantlement plans, but Kim was said to support the process, which was worked out through negotiations with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.