SEOUL, South Korea — North Koreans celebrated “peerlessly brilliant” leader Kim Jong-Il’s 68th birthday Tuesday as questions persist abroad about his health and the future of the impoverished, nuclear-armed nation.
Depressed and chronically ill, Kim relies on rare, costly and sometimes outlawed remedies such as rhino’s horn and the bile of bear gall bladder, one South Korean official told The Associated Press. Another intelligence expert said North Koreans have gone twice to Beijing since 2008 to buy prized remedies, spending more than $610,000 on one shopping trip. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of matters involving the North Korean leader.
Though noticeably gaunt, Kim appears active and even cheerful in photos distributed by state media.
