Speculation grim for North Korea's Kim

TOKYO, July 10 (UPI) -- Reports concerning the health of a frail North Korea President Kim Jong-Il do not give him long to live, observers say.

That outlook was tempered by the appearance of the reclusive Kim on state television this week to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the death of his father and the country's founder Kim Il-sung.

"He looked gaunt, his hair has thinned dramatically and he walked with a limp," The Daily Telegraph reportéd. "It is believed that 67-year-old Kim suffered a serious stroke in August, 2008, and that his recovery has been delayed by long-standing diabetes and heart disease."

"He does not have all that much longer to live." Toshimitsu Shigemura, an expert on North Korean affairs at Waseda University, told the Telegraph. "My sources say the doctors' diagnosis is that he will die before the end of the year."

An official told the Washington Times that Kim "has essentially lost the ability to decide policy now and that is being carried out by a collective leadership made up of the Politburo, the party and the military."