PYONGYANG, North Korea, June 18 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's reportedly poor health is raising questions about continuing leadership in Pyongyang.
The Washington Times said it isn't clear who would handle high-level decisions, such as those involving the shutdown of the country's nuclear weapons program under an international agreement, should Kim become incapacitated.
The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo suggested last month Kim had heart, kidney or liver disease. The London Daily Telegraph reported last week that Kim was unable to walk for more than 30 steps.
Kim succeeded his father, "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung in 1994. He has three sons, but observers told the Times there have been no signs that any of them are being groomed to succeed him.
"We would see propaganda materials telling stories about how great and wise one of his sons is, or perhaps about his mother. But there is no sign of any succession," Andrei Lankov, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's Kookmin University, told the Times.
