Kim Jong Il health watch: brain surgery?

The Kim Jong Il rumor mill continues to churn. A Japanese TV station has reported that Kim's son, Kim Jong-Nam, is seeking help for his father from a Paris brain surgeon:

He is believed to have met with a French brain surgeon, who later departed from Paris for Pyongyang under North Korean escort," the network said.

Kim spent two hours in the hospital last week where he is believed to have visited its neurosurgery department, it added.

As he left the hospital, the man -- stout, and clad in a dark pin-striped suit with a red tie -- did not reply to questions about Kim Jong-Il's health, only getting into his car with a slight smile and waving.

The network said a French brain surgeon then appeared at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport two days later and said in French he was going to Beijing, the usual connection point for Pyongyang.

As with all KJI-related stories, treat this one with a healthy dose of skepticism. Only last Tuesday, after all, Kim was supposedly back to his old hippie-bashing ways. But it is appearing more likely that Dear Leader has suffered a serious stroke. Reuters has put together a quick list of possible successors. FP contributor and Kim's former teacher Kim Hyun Sik, shared his thoughts here, and North Korean regime expert Ken Gause dove into a few other scenarios here.