North Korea releases pictures of Kim Jong-il

After rumors that the Dear Leader had suffered a devastating stroke, causing him to miss major events such as the 60th anniversary of the DPRK's founding, Pyongyang has released the first images of Kim Jong-il seen since August 14. Of course, no one has any idea how old the pictures are, but the background looks a little green for mid-October. No later than September, I guess.

For all you hoping his demise would lead to something better up north, you may have to wait a while longer: he reportedly looked in good health and he was well enough last week to make his first public appearance in two months to watch a college soccer game. 

UPDATE (Sunday, October 12, 2008): 

By way of the Marmot's Hole, it looks like these photos are not recent. Yonhap thinks the pictures are from a trip to a Kangwon-do unit in August 2003 or July 2004. I would say it's doubtful the pictures were recently staged. After all, no one ever plans to have a stroke.

What does this all mean? If the pictures are from several years ago, but he made a recent appearance, then he may well have suffered from some sort of stroke or medical problem that has caused him to appear frail or debilitated in some way.