"Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke, but did not undergo an operation. He is now better," Francois-Xavier Roux, a neurosurgeon, told the French newspaper, Le Figaro.
U.S. and South Korean intelligence reports earlier said Kim had suffered a stroke and undergone surgery, raising concern as to who would take over the isolated communist state, currently involved with six-nation talks on its nuclear program.
Pyongyang has vehemently denied the reports of Kim's illness. The country's newspapers have since published photographs of the "Dear Leader," but it is not clear when they were taken.
"The photos that have just been published seem recent and authentic to me. I have the impression that he is in charge in North Korea. I can't say more because of medical confidentiality and state secrecy," Roux said.
Roux earlier admitted to visiting North Korea, but denied he had treated Kim.
