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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has pancreatic cancer, a South Korean broadcaster said Monday.

Kim was diagnosed with the illness last summer, around the time he suffered a stroke, Seoul's YTN television reported, citing information by unnamed Chinese and South Korean intelligence sources.

The leader's health is one of the most closely guarded secrets in North Korea.

Kim is 67 years old and was widely believed to have suffered a stroke, but there has been no official confirmation.

He looked gaunt during a public appearance last Wednesday at a memorial for his father and state founder Kim Il-sung.

The report cited the officials saying the disease is "threatening" Kim's life.

Pancreatic cancer is usually found in its final stage, and considering Kim's age, he is expected to live no more than five years, the report said.

South Korea's spy agency said it could not confirm the television report. Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters he knows nothing of the report.

The communist leader's health raises questions about succession and who will control the country's nuclear weapons program.

The South's spy agency believes that Kim's third and youngest son, Kim Jong-Un, is sure to inherit North Korea, Seoul's Chosun Ilbo daily reported Monday. But the regime under the son is expected to be unstable and vulnerable to internal political strife as Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, could try to snatch power, the paper reported.

The North has conducted several nuclear tests, including a volley of seven ballistic missiles on July 4.

North Korea also fired a long-range rocket that it said was a satellite in early April and on May 25 conducted its second underground nuclear test following the first in late 2006.

The UN Security Council punished Pyongyang with tough sanctions centred on clamping down on North Korea's alleged trading of banned arms and weapons-related material.

Kim has been in power since 1994 when his father died.