The health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is failing and he may only have one year to live, a US official has told the Washington Times.

"Kim Jong-il certainly hasn't been in good shape since his stroke last year and, as time wears on, it's increasingly clear that he's not where he was before experiencing his health setback," the official, who requested anonymity, told the newspaper.

According to a diplomatic source, the Times reported that Kim is undergoing treatments to regain his health. The source, who asked not to be named, said that Kim has eschewed Western medicine and is now relying only on herbal brews and other non-traditional Eastern remedies.

Contrary to earlier reports by intelligence analysts that the North Korean leader had fully recovered from the stroke, Kim appeared on state television in Pyongyang on Wednesday looking haggard and frail, according to the Times.

It said that the fact Kim had announced a successor, Kim's third son Kim Jong-un, only served to confirm Kim's increasingly failing health.

Both sources said the leader's weakened state instigated the plan for succession and they expect Kim Jong-un to succeed his father within the year.

The Times reported that two main power factions have emerged to control North Korea's military-political structure: One is led by Gen. O Kuk-ryol, a senior military aide to Kim Jong-il, and the other is headed by Jang Song-taek, one of Kim's key aides who also happens to be related to Kim by marriage. Both have been promoted to the powerful Central Military Commission which shadows the communist Workers' Party of Korea as the regime's key power structure.

--The Korea Herald / Asia News Network