Doctor: Kim recovering from stroke

PARIS, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il appears to be making a good recovery from a stroke, a French doctor who has treated him said Thursday.

Dr. Francois-Xavier Roux, a Paris neurosurgeon, gave an interview to the French daily Le Figaro, The New York Times reported. Roux said that he last saw Kim in late October and has examined photographs of Kim released by the North Korean government.

"The photos that have just been published seem recent and authentic to me," he said. "I have the impression that he is in charge in North Korea. I can't say more because of medical confidentiality and state secrecy."

Kim, 66, had a stroke in August, U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies said. He did not appear in public on Sept. 9, when North Korea held a parade to mark the 60th anniversary of its government.

The son of Kim Il Sung, founder of the North Korean state, Kim succeeded his father in 1994 and continued his father's policies of economic and political isolation, tight state control and a cult of personality. He has three sons and a daughter, but no clear successor.