Korea - Seoul Denies Kim Jong-il Arrest Report

[American Patriot]

Korea - Seoul Denies Kim Jong-il Arrest Report
Korean Broadcasting Service ^ | January 26, 2007

The government has denied a Japanese report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could be ill or facing a military coup. A government official on Friday said that the Japanese report on Kim seems groundless as Seoul has detected nothing unusual in the North.


The official added that there is no evidence to back the report, though he cannot confirm whether the North Korean leader is in Pyongyang now.


Quoting a source in South Korea, Japan's Jiji Press reported that Kim may be under house arrest at his villa in Wonsan along the east coast.

[American Patriot]

from FR and a regular poster who translates the Korean papers.




N. Korea: Something May be Wrong with Kim Jong-il... in Power Struggle or Detained?

JoongAng Ilbo ^ | 01/26/07


Posted on 01/25/2007 4:30:04 PM MST by TigerLikesRooster

/begin my translation

Something’s Wrong with Kim Jong-il... in Power Struggle or Detained?


Newsis: Quoting a reliable source in S. Korea, Jiji Press of Japan reported on Jan. 26 that there is an intelligence that something may be wrong with Kim Jong-il recently.



In its dispatch from Seoul, it reported that Kim Jong-il is not in Pyongyang, and intense power struggle could be going on between factions inside his inner circle.



Intelligence outfits of U.S. and S. Korea are now trying to verify this now, according to the report.



The source suggests the possibility that something might have happened to Kim Jong-il's health. The report also added that there is also a rumor circulating which says Kim being detained by (N. Korean) military.



Another view suggests that Kim Jong-il may be staying at his luxury villa in Wonsan on (N. Korea's) east coast.



It is difficult to tell the veracity of these pieces of intelligence at this moment, but if true, this could create 'power vacuum' in N. Korean leadership which has Kim Jong-il as its absolute supreme leader, and have great impact on (N. Korean) regime, according to the report.



On the other hand, an S. Korean intelligence official reportedly emphasized, "They did not detect any particular signs (of such developments)", showing skepticism on such intelligence. [Seoul=Newsis]

/end my translation