N. Korea releases 1st video footage of leader since reported illness+

BEIJING, April 7 Kyodo -
North Korea on Tuesday released the first video footage of the country's leader
Kim Jong Il since his reported illness last year, showing him making field
guidance visits, Tokyo-based Radiopress said.

While still photographs of the visits to factories and military units have been
released by North Korea's official news agency, the footage was the first
moving images of the leader since his reported stroke last summer.
Radiopress, which monitors North Korean media, said the video footage did not
include the voice of the North Korean leader.
The images were released in a 54-minute program from 6 p.m. in North Korea and
covered Kim's field guidance visits from August to December, according to
Radiopress. North Korea often releases such programs several months after the
events take place.
The program began with the leader's visits to a pig factory and goat farm on
Aug. 7 last year, shortly before he was believed to have suffered a stroke.
The other images covered 10 visits the leader made after his reported recovery.
There were images of him walking two or three steps at a time.
In the images after November, he was seen clapping his hands at the level of
his chest. International media had reported earlier that the left-hand side of
his body may have been paralyzed as a result of the stroke.
==Kyodo