Report: Kim Jong Il has pancreatic cancer

PYONGYANG, North Korea, July 13 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is suffering from pancreatic cancer, South Korean Cable TV YTN was quoted as saying Monday.

The television network's report, filed by its correspondent in Beijing, cited unidentified Chinese and South Korean intelligence sources, The New York Times said.

Questions have already been raised about the Communist country leader's health since he suffered a stroke last August.

YTN did not explain how the sources obtained the latest medical information about Kim from North Korea. The isolated country has tended to keep such information a tight state secret, the Times report said.

However, if there has been a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, Kim may not have much longer to live, as pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages. The World Health Organization has determined fewer than 5 percent of pancreatic cancer sufferers live past five years.

North Korea, under Kim, shocked the world with its May 25 nuclear test, its second since 2006, and further provoked other countries with its medium- and long-range missile launches. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling for sanctions but those have only led to more intransigence from Pyongyang.

The Times report said in recent TV images Kim had looked frail and was seen limping.

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted South Korean intelligence services speculating Kim's death, if it occurs, could set off a power struggle between his son and heir apparent Kim Jong Un and his brother-in-law.

Jang Song-taek, the purported No. 2 man in North Korea and director of the Workers' Party administrative department and member of the National Defense Commission, could lead such a power struggle. Jang reportedly supported Kim's oldest son Kim Jong-nam as the heir apparent.