Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s leader, has life-threatening pancreatic cancer, a news report said on Monday, days after fresh images of him looking gaunt spurred speculation that his health was worsening following a reported stroke last year, reports AP in Seoul.

Mr Kim, 67, was diagnosed at about the time he was felled by the stroke last summer, Seoul’s YTN television reported, citing unidentified intelligence officials in South Korea and China who had said the disease was “threatening” Mr Kim’s life.