TOKYO, July 13 (Itar-Tass) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is ill with pancreatic cancer, the South Korean television said in an urgent report with references to the intelligence services of China and South Korea.

The U.S. intelligence affirmed in South Korea and Kim Jong Il survived a stroke and was partially paralysed last August. For the last few months he supposedly lives not in the capital, but at a residence in Wonsan on the North Korean eastern coast.

On July 8, the Pyongyang central television showed a ceremony on occasion of the 15th death anniversary of the father of the incumbent leader – North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. At the ceremony the North Korean leader looked very exhausted.

From the beginning of this year some reports appear that Kim Jong Il allegedly named his junior son Kim Jong Un as his successor. According to some political experts, North Korea’s latest tough actions, including the second nuclear test and the launches of missiles, are seeking to consolidate the nation during a difficult period of the preparations to the official proclamation of Kim’s successor.