S. Korea checking report that N. Korean diplomats await "important message"

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Saturday it was checking a Japanese
report that North Korea has ordered its diplomats overseas to refrain from
traveling and await "an important message" from their central government.
"We are checking the report," a South Korean government official said, commenting
on the report by Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun. "After the report came out, nothing
special has been detected, but we are closely watching the situation in North
Korea."
Quoting unidentified sources, Yomiuri reported that North Korean diplomats abroad
have been told to stay at their assigned posts and wait for an important message
from Pyongyang that is expected to come out in a few days.
The mass-circulation newspaper said the message from Pyongyang might be related
to leader Kim Jong-il's ill-health or a major policy change toward South Korea.
The 66-year-old North Korean leader has been out of the public view since Aug. 14
when he inspected a military unit. His conspicuous absence from major events,
including one marking the 60th anniversary of the country, triggered speculation
about his failing health.
South Korean intelligence officials have said Kim is recovering from a stroke
after undergoing brain surgery in mid-August. North Korea has denied reports of
Kim's ill-health and released pictures of him visiting an army unit on Oct. 11
but some experts questioned authenticity of those photos.
Critics pointed that the October landscape in North Korea shown in those pictures
is too leafy, indicating that they were taken some weeks or months earlier.
The Japanese report came two days after North Korea threatened to cut off all
inter-Korean ties unless the conservative South Korean government withdraws its
"hostile policy" towards Pyongyang.