N. Korean leader Kim has difficulty walking: S. Korean lawmaker

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has difficulty walking as a result of diabetes and kidney and liver problems, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday.

"Kim needs to have an assistant follow him around holding a chair since he has problems walking more than 30 centimeters at once," Chung Hyung-keun of the main opposition Grand National Party claimed at a party gathering in Gyeongju, about 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Chung is known for his extensive background in North Korea-related intelligence gathering. As a prosecutor, he served as an investigator for the anti-communism division of the nation's intelligence agency throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

He declined to reveal his sources and did not elaborate on the symptoms of Kim's kidney and liver diseases. The National Intelligence Agency does not agree with his information, he added.

As for the post-Kim era, Kim's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, 35, has backing from the Chinese leadership, Chung said. However, his libertine lifestyle has caused him to lose his father's favor, he said.

Kim Jong-nam was arrested on arrival at an airport in Japan in 2001 for using a forged Dominican passport. He reportedly told Japanese authorities that the purpose of his trip was to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Kim is also involved in North Korea's missile sales, said Chung, citing his sources.

While the North Korean leader considers his second son, Kim Jong-chol, not masculine enough to be the successor, his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, 22, has won his father's heart the most with his cool-headed personality, Chung said.

The issue of North Korea's next leader draws North Korea observers' attention due to Kim Jong-il's age, 64, and constant rumors he is in dire health. Kim himself was chosen as the official heir to his father, Kim Il-sung, at the age of 30 in 1974.

The eldest son, Jong-nam, was born from his father's unofficial relationship with Sung Hae-rim, an actress who died in Moscow several years ago. Jong-chol and Jong-un's mother is Ko Yong-hi, who died of heart failure in 2004.

Gyeongju, South Korea, Sept. 6 (Yonhap News)