Defence Minister Lee Sang-Hee, who told parliament Kim had undergone surgery but is recovering, said a military plan is being drawn up for any contingency.

President Lee Myung-Bak told security ministers and aides that "thorough preparations should be made to minimise confusion over changes in North Korea's political circumstances."

South Korea is still technically at war with its hardline communist neighbour. The two forces face off across a heavily fortified border, with US troops backing up the South.

Kim "collapsed because of a brain problem and had surgery from which he is recovering," minister Lee was quoted by lawmakers as telling a closed-door session of the legislature's defence committee.

Officials said earlier on condition of anonymity that Kim, 66, was thought to have undergone surgery, but this was the first confirmation.

Seoul officials believe Kim is still in charge of affairs in North Korea, one of the world's most reclusive regimes.

But analysts fear the powerful military could assume more power in any post-Kim era and take a harder line on nuclear disarmament and cross-border ties.

The defence minister, quoted by lawmaker Yoo Seong-Min, said no unusual troop movements have been detected in the North and South Korea's military is maintaining its customary alert level.

Asked if Seoul should revive a joint US-South Korean contingency plan to prepare for sudden political change in the North, Lee said relevant agencies were in talks toward a strategy "in preparation for a (possible) limited provocation or a full-scale war."

The intelligence agency told parliament Wednesday that Kim is still able to run the country and will recover. He is not fit enough for public activities but can speak without difficulty, they said.

Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified top diplomatic source as saying there was no sign of any power vacuum in the North. "Key policy decisions are being made normally," the source said.

News of the stroke emerged after Kim failed to attend a parade on Tuesday marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of his country, in which he is officially accorded almost godlike status.

Lee Chul-Woo, secretary of parliament's intelligence committee, said Kim is "recovering fast," can stand if supported and has no problems communicating.

He said the Seoul government has been aware of Kim's health problems since mid-August. The North's state media has not reported any public appearances by Kim since August 14, when he inspected an army unit.

Lee Chul-Woo said a collective leadership was more likely should there be a sudden transition, but if Kim's condition improves, the succession would be determined later.

If the North's powerful military secured more power in a post-Kim era, "it will change toward a tougher line," he said.

"If technocrats in the administration get more power, it will then move towards inter-Korean reconciliation."

Kim's health has been the subject of intense speculation since he took over from his father, who died in 1994, in the communist world's only dynastic succession. He has not publicly nominated any successor.

His illness comes amid deadlock in a six-nation nuclear disarmament deal and fears the North intends to restart its atomic weapons programme.

The North promised to shut down the programme after testing a nuclear device in October 2006 for the first time.

But it has halted work to disable its plutonium-producing plants, and says it will start repairing them again because of the deadlock over how to verify its nuclear disclosures.

North and South Korea have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

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Kim's health triggers nuclear, ally concerns in US
With Kim Jong Il's fate uncertain, US officials are worried about who gains control of North Korea's nuclear weapons, say experts.

They also want to know what effect any change of power might have on Japan and South Korea.

South Korea's intelligence agency said Wednesday that the North Korean leader had suffered a stroke, but that he was still able to run the country and would recover.

Pyongyang's number two, Kim Yong-Nam, was quoted by Japan's Kyodo news agency as saying there was "no problem" with his condition.

Some US experts fear that the leader's death or incapacitation would most probably lead to an army takeover, though they have not ruled out a power struggle or the collapse of the regime.

Regime collapse would raise not only the prospect of a humanitarian calamity -- with millions fleeing to neighbors China, South Korea and Japan -- but also the possible reunification of the Korean peninsula under US ally South Korea.

That, however, could trigger Beijing's intervention, said experts.

"If there is a collapse and you have a political and security vacuum, would South Korea feel impelled to go in to help the common North Korean citizens who they see as brothers?" asked Bruce Klingner, a former CIA officer in charge of North Korean affairs.

"Would that then cause China to feel it has to go in to protect its own interest to maintain a buffer?" said Klingner, now with the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

China's impoverished nuclear armed neighbor serves as a buffer zone against South Korea and Japan, two democracies that have tens of thousands of US troops on their soil under longstanding security treaties.

China and South Korea are already locked in a dispute over Beijing's claim over an ancient kingdom that includes North Korea. China and Japan also have overlapping territorial claims.

The three nations have nevertheless, since 2003, worked with Russia and the United States in talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.

The uncertainty over Kim's health raises the question of who would have ultimate authority over North Korea's nuclear arsenal, which US President George W. Bush's administration wants disbanded before he leaves office in January.

If Kim is ailing, that could hinder diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nuclear crisis -- and efforts to pave the way for a peace treaty to replace the armistice signed at the end of the Korean War in 1953.

"Almost all experts expect the National Defense Council -- the army -- to run the country (if Kim is incapacitated or dies) and that would mean a much harder line on issues like nuclear weapons," said Michael Green, a former White House Asia hand.

"The one good thing you can say is that the countries around North Korea have a lot more trust among each other than they did before the six-party talks started," said Green, now with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"But it's a real nightmare actually when you have to deal with the possibility of a complete collapse of power or massive humanitarian crisis or massive refugee flows to China, South Korea or Japan, or nuclear weapons," he added.

The United States, Green said, should work out a contingency plan to "stabilize" any such situation.

But Washington has no diplomatic ties with North Korea and virtually no influence inside the reclusive nation, said Scott Snyder, a Washington-based expert at the Asia Foundation.

"I don't think there are tools available to the United States to influence any possible faction, the outcome of any factional struggle inside North Korea," he added.

US scholars who have talked to Chinese military researchers said earlier this year that China had contingency plans to dispatch troops into North Korea and secure nuclear weapons in the event of instability.

Beijing would only intervene after consultations with the United Nations, the experts said in a report.

But if the international community did not respond swiftly and if the North Korean situation "deteriorated rapidly" it may act unilaterally.

The report, published in January, was compiled by experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Asia Foundation and the US Institute of Peace.

"I think the United States has made a mistake by emphasizing China's role so much," said David Straus, a former State Department official now with California-based Stanford University.

"China's interests and the United States' interests on the Korean peninsula are similar in some respects but far from identical," he said.

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