Kim Jong-il, North Korea's leader, may have suffered a stroke, according to US intelligence services.
Kim failed to appear at a parade marking the communist country's 60th anniversary on Tuesday, fuelling speculation that he may have fallen ill in the past couple of weeks.
"It does appear that Kim Jong-il has suffered a health setback, potentially a stroke," a US official said.
She said there have been no signs of a change in governing power and that assessing whether Kim was still capable of governing would "call for a lot of speculation".
US intelligence was "pretty confident" of its health assessment, the official said, saying a stroke "possibly is what it looks like now".
South Korea's largest daily newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo, said Kim, who is 66-years-old and believed to be suffering chronic illness, collapsed last month, citing a South Korean diplomatic source in Beijing. Al Jazeera
One of Kim Jong Il's 'doubles' in 2008 [left], and the 'real' Kim in 2003. (National Nine News)
Kim died in 2003; replaced by lookalike - JapanToday