SEOUL (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was examined by French doctors this month at one of his secret villas, two years after he suffered a stroke, a report said Friday.

Two French doctors closely checked Kim's “cerebrovascular and spinal nerve system” from August 2 to 14 at his seaside villa in Hamheung, about 150kms (90 miles) northeast of Pyongyang, the Seoul-based Open Radio for North Korea reported.
The two were in charge of Kim's treatment when he suffered a stroke in 2008, it said.
A South Korean state research institute said in March that Kim was suffering from kidney failure which requires dialysis and also had partial paralysis following the 2008 stroke.
His health has been the subject of intense international attention because of the North's nuclear and missile programs and uncertainty about who will succeed im as leader of the secretive communist nation.
Kim has not publicly appointed an eventual successor, but his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un, is widely believed to be being groomed to take over from his 68-year-old father.