South Korea denies rumors suggesting that a recent photograph of North Korea's leader may have been forged, amid reports over his health. An undated still photo of Kim Jong-II was released on Wednesday, portraying the communist leader in front of a military lineup. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) told AFP on Sunday that it believed the photo, which British media had questioned, was real.
The picture shows the 66-year-old leader standing next to military commanders, while South Korean and US officials say he has missed a September 9 parade, which marked the country's 60th anniversary, because of a stroke he suffered in mid-August.
The British broadcaster BBC, and the London-based The Times newspaper questioned the picture's authenticity on Friday. Both highlighted differently-angled shadows and mismatching pixels. BBC carried a zoomed-in picture of the leader's leg, to demonstrate the mismatch. "The possibility of Mr. Kim's photo being forged seems very low," an NIS spokesman told AFP, but declined to comment on British speculations.
The South's unification ministry spokesman Kim Ho-Nyoun also told AFP he had no evidence to suggest forgery after observing the photo.