SEOUL, South Korea — In life — and even in death — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s whereabouts always were a guessing game. Inside his Hermit Kingdom, press pictures released of him were always undated. Live television images of the “Dear Leader” were pretty much forbidden.
Now, South Korean intelligence officials are even casting doubt on Pyong yang’s official story that Kim died of a heart attack while working aboard a moving train Saturday morning.
South Korea’s top spy, Won Sei-Hoon, told lawmakers in Seoul that a review of satellite photographs revealed Kim’s train was stopped at a Pyongyang station at the time North Korean officials say he died, according to media reports.
“There were no signs the train ever moved,” South Korean media quoted Won as saying.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday agreed, questioning the circumstances of the dictator’s death.
North Korea-watchers speculate that the time and place of Kim’s death may be sensitive to North Korean officials as they oversee the transition of power to the late strongman’s handpicked successor: his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un.
South Korean media reported rumors circulating among national lawmakers that Kim Jong-Il died in his bed at his Pyongyang home.
Under this scenario, the image of a sickly, weakened and prone Kim taking his last breaths may not have sounded sufficiently patriotic to suit North Korea’s propaganda machine. The image of an indefatigable Kim dying while on a tour to give “field guidance” to his people better fit the legacy of a dictator who didn’t know how to quit.
Many observers here say South Korean — and even U.S. — intelligence officials are trying to rebound from a major gaffe: not finding out about the death of one of the world’s notorious leaders until two days after the fact.
