State Dept.: Kim Jong-Il not ‘in the pink of health’

South Korean media reported Monday that North Korea’s Dear Leader, who was photographed looking gaunt at a memorial event for his dad, Kim Il-Sung, in Pyongyang last week, is suffering from pancreatic cancer. The South Korean government sought to dampen reports of any specific illnesses — South Korean cable network YTN cited unnamed intelligence sources in D.C. and Seoul — telling a press briefing there was no more information to give.

Today at the State Department’s daily briefing, spokesman Ian Kelly said, “We have seen these — these reports about Kim Jong-Il’s health. But as a standard practice, we don’t — we don’t comment on these matters.”

But Kelly commented on the footage of the no-longer-plump Kim: “He didn’t look in the — in the pink of health, I have to say,” Kelly said.

Kelly said there was no more information that he could share, citing intelligence confidentiality. “As we said many times, what we’re focused on is the behavior of North Korea,” Kelly said.