Kim Jong-Il misses dignitary's state funeral

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has missed the funeral of a top party leader, Seoul said Friday, amid mounting speculation about his health.

Kim failed to show up for the state funeral on Thursday for former vice president Pak Song-Chol, the Unification Ministry here said.

"It is confirmed that Chairman Kim did not attend the funeral," spokesman Kim Ho-Nyoun of the Unification Ministry told journalists.

The funeral for Pak, a confidant and revolutionary colleague of late president Kim Il-Sung, drew top leaders of the government, military and the communist party, according to Pyongyang's news media. Pak died aged 95.

Kim Jong-Il sent flowers for the funeral, the North's official news media reported. But they did not say whether Kim was among the elite who turned out for the funeral.

Kim Jong-Il attended the 1994 funeral of his father, Kim Il-Sung, the 1995 funeral for ex-defence minister O Jin-U and the 2005 funeral for former prime minister Yon Hyong-Muk.

Kim, 66, is widely thought to have suffered a stroke in mid-August. Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso said this week he is probably in hospital but still capable of making decisions.