Senior envoy predicts Kim Jong Il's death

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il may die within three years, a senior United States envoy said in Seoul last month.

Assistant US Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told US Ambassador Kathleen Stephens in a closed-door session that he doubted the 68-year-old leader would live beyond 2013, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo said yesterday.

Campbell based his estimate on medical information, the report said, citing unidentified sour