Monday, October 27, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
SEOUL — North Korean diplomats have been told to stay at their overseas posts amid political uncertainties at home, government sources here said.
But the sources said they had no intelligence to confirm Japanese media reports that North Korea was planning an "important announcement" this week.
“Pyongyang is now an island,” said an intelligence source in Seoul “the entire security forces in the country have been mobilized to block all the roads and transportation into Pyongyang.”
The sources said until the day President Roh leaves Pyongyang on Oct. 5, only trains will be permitted to enter Pyongyang.
In a possibly related move, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported that North Korea had imposed a temporary entry ban on all foreigners seeking to visit. The Seoul sources said the ban, if true, was aimed at curbing the influx of outside information, including rumors about Kim’s health.
Earlier, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported that North Korean diplomats abroad were ordered to remain in place and await an "important announcement" from Pyongyang, speculating the announcement might be connected to Kim's deteriorating health.
Some media reports in Tokyo and Seoul said the North was likely to announce Kim's death or a government change induced by a coup.
But South Korean government officials downplayed the media reports. The Unification Ministry said no unusual activity was observed in the North. "There were no unusual signs seen yet in the North," a spokesman said.
Officials also said Pyongyang's so-called "important announcement" to its foreign missions seemed related to the fact that North Korea has been removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The sources said the planned announcement was intended to prevent diplomats from seeking political asylum at a time when the regime's control could be weakened by reports on the health of Kim Jong-Il.
"Few North Korean citizens inside the isolated country know about the reports on Kim's health, but diplomats out of the country are aware of the speculation," one source said.
"Recently, the speculation has begun to penetrate the North Korean society following Kim’s long absence from public views," he said.
"I heard that a North Korean official had not returned home after a business trip to China. I see the possibility that North Korean diplomats would seek political asylums overseas," he said.