Kim Jong Il believed to be recovering from stroke

Seoul: Officials believe North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has recovered enough from a stroke to brush his own teeth but that sporadic spasms forced him to skip his country's 60th anniversary celebrations, reports said.

Kim, 66, is lucid and has no trouble speaking, according to a high-level Chinese official who met in recent weeks with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang, the South Korean
newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported on Friday, citing an unidentified source in Beijing.

But the Chinese official had predicted that Kim would miss Tuesday's anniversary ceremony, the official was quoted as saying. The report did not give further details.

The South Korean government confirmed that Kim suffered a stroke but said he was recovering and remained in control of the country. South Korea's National Intelligence Service and the Unification Ministry said they could not comment on the Chosun Ilbo report.

South Korean media have reported that Kim collapsed around August 15. His absence from Tuesday's anniversary ceremony intensified speculation that the leader - long believed to be suffering from diabetes and heart disease – was seriously ill. He had been out of the public eye for weeks and foreign doctors were rumoured to have been flown into Pyongyang to treat him.

But Seoul's presidential Blue House said Wednesday that Kim was not considered to be "in a serious condition."

Kim was "recovering fast," has no trouble communicating and speaking and was "able to stand if assisted," South Korean ruling party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo said in a radio interview on Thursday.