N.Korea's Kim seen recovering quickly

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is on the mend from an apparent stroke, a South Korean lawmaker said on Thursday, with no signs he has lost his grip over a country that possibly has nuclear weapons.

Kim can stand up with assistance and is able to communicate, a South Korean lawmaker said after a meeting with his country's spy chief, who knocked down reports in the local media that the enigmatic North Korean leader was partially paralysed.

"He's had circulatory problems but had treatment and now doesn't have problem communicating," ruling party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo told a radio programme. "Kim is recovering quickly."

Kim, 66, has led communist North Korea for 14 years, under which the reclusive state has seen its anaemic economy shrink, its ballistic missile arsenal swell and U.N. sanctions imposed due to its nuclear programme and first atomic test two years ago.

Another intelligence source said Kim remains in power.

South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo cited an intelligence source as saying Kim had a stroke about August 15 and was treated by a group of visiting foreign doctors.

South Korea has spotted no unusual troop movements in the North and the Defence Ministry said it had no plans for now to raise the level of its readiness.

Kim's brush with serious illness has caused South Korea to re-examine contingency plans for possible change in a neighbour that has one of the world's largest standing armies and can fire missiles capable of reaching all of the Korean peninsula and most of Japan.