SEOUL, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, whose illness has sparked speculation of a possible leadership change, has recovered enough to brush his teeth, Seoul's Yonhap agency said on Friday, citing an official.

The secretive communist state's leader, 66, is believed to have suffered a stroke last month, but South Korean intelligence sources have said he is still in control of the country.

"We have obtained information that Kim can brush his teeth without help," a South Korean government official told Yonhap, on condition of anonymity.

He dismissed media reports that Kim is partially paralyzed or in a critical condition.

On Wednesday the North Korean leader's deputy, Kim Yong-nam, denied reports that the leader had collapsed, calling them a "conspiracy."

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has told his government to prepare for any sudden change in North Korea's political situation.

Concern over Kim's health arose when he failed to appear at a military parade in Pyongyang marking the country's 60th anniversary on Tuesday.

Kim Jong-il has ruled North Korea since 1994, when he succeeded his late father Kim Il-sung, the communist state's founder. According to Soviet records, he was born in the Russian village of Vyatskoye near Khabarovsk, where his father commanded a military brigade in which Chinese and Korean exiles served.