N. Korean leader healthy enough to walk up mountain: report

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-il walked several
kilometers up a steep mountain as he gave field guidance at a mountainside resort
in Pyongyang last month, a pro-North newspaper in Japan said Tuesday.
In an apparent message that Kim has significantly recovered from a suspected
stroke in August, the Choson Sinbo said Kim declined repeated calls by
accompanying officials to cut short his trip and went up to Daebong peak on Mount
Ryongak on Jan. 17.
The leader "took the inspection route spanning several kilometers" from a pond to
a pavilion on top of the mountain, it said.
"His accompanying officials told the general that the road is precipitous and has
many stairs and proposed he now turn back," the report said. "Then, the general
said they've come this far and couldn't stop here and led the way."
Kim, who turned 67 on Monday, sharply increased his public inspections this year,
making 23 visits as of last week compared to nine during the same period last
year and 10 in 2007.
Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said Choson Sinbo reports are
"believed to be factual," adding the report seemed to suggest that the leader is
"healthy enough to walk up a mountain."
hkim@yna.co.kr
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