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— U.S. intelligence has detected no sign of North Korean military activity that might suggest the communist nation's reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il, has been disabled or otherwise lost his grip on power, the commander of American military forces in South Korea said Wednesday.
"We continue to watch all the intelligence indicators as to any movement ... and have not seen anything out of the ordinary," Army Gen. Walter Sharp told a news conference at the Pentagon.
On Saturday, North Korea's state news agency reported a public appearance by Kim for the first time in nearly two months, an absence that prompted speculation that he was seriously ill. The 66-year-old leader had not been seen in public since mid-August. U.S. and South Korean officials last month said that Kim suffered a stroke and underwent brain surgery, but North Korea has denied he was ill.
Kim's absence at two key public events — a military parade marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of North Korea and Korean Thanksgiving — reinforced the notion that he was ill and raised questions about the nation's future leadership.
Sharp declined to be specific about what the U.S. military knows of Kim's health. The general, who commands 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, said several times that his focus is on ensuring that U.S. and South Korean forces are prepared for any possibility, including an invasion by the North.
"We are prepared for any reaction up North, anything up North, and we have not seen anything out of the normal," Sharp said.
The general was vague about whether U.S. intelligence has hard information to explain why Kim was out of the public eye for such a lengthy period.
"Do I have more detail on exactly what happened? There are intelligence sources that I'm not — I can't obviously share there," he said.
Kim's extended absence from the public eye was not his first. But it is believed to be his longest since assuming leadership after his father's death in 1994 in what became the world's first communist dynasty.
It remains unclear whether one of his three adult sons will carry the dynasty into a third generation. Kim himself spent 20 years preparing to take over as leader, but he has not named a successor.
Sharp would not say what the U.S. government sees as a likely scenario for the eventual transfer of power in Pyongyang. He said Washington and Seoul are prepared for any outcome.
"We would hope it would be a peaceful transition to a government that is much more open and representative that is willing to take care of their people," he said.
