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South Korea has said there is no evidence of such an announcement.

The Japanese news media continue to suggest North Korea is about to make an “important announcement.” The South Korean government, on the other hand, says it has confirmed nothing of that nature and that the North has not acted in a way that would arouse more than the usual level of observation.

On October 19, the Sankei Shimbun, quoting a Japanese government source, reported that North Korean authorities will begin prohibiting foreigners from entering the country starting October 20 and that there will soon be a major announcement from Pyongyang regarding inter-Korean relations or the political situation there. It said that Northern officials traveling overseas have been told to return to its diplomatic missions, and that officials with the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun, Chosen Soren) have been told to avoid making trips inside Japan or elsewhere.

Earlier, on October 18, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Pyongyang was set to make a major announcement regarding Kim Jong-il’s health and that North Korean diplomats had been told to await instructions.

On October 19, however, a South Korean government official said that “while we are looking into what Japanese media are reporting we have not come across anything of particular note within the North or regarding its diplomatic missions.”

“The North would have no reason to give its diplomatic missions advance warning, and only then announce something about Chairman Kim’s health,” he said.

Another official said that the government had intercepted intelligence indicating that North Korean diplomats had been told to wait for an announcement around the time of Kim’s statement of October 10. “Maybe the Japanese media are attaching significance to information they came across after we did.”

North Korea regularly tells its embassies to study and debate formal remarks by Kim before they are released.

An employee at the North Korean embassy in Beijing said he “hasn’t heard anything about a major announcement” and that all employees were on holiday.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]