North Korea ? North Korean leader Kim Jong Il did suffer a stroke but is improving, a Paris doctor told a French newspaper as the reclusive country’s state-run media issued a dispatch Friday saying Kim recently toured chicken farms and collectives in the countryside.

Neurosurgeon Francois-Xavier Roux of Sainte-Anne hospital in Paris told Le Figaro newspaper that Kim suffered a stroke but did not undergo surgery as was widely reported. He said Kim’s condition is improving.

Roux’s account is significant because it is the first eyewitness observation of the autocratic leader publicly available since Kim reportedly fell ill.

South Korean and U.S. officials say the 66-year-old leader suffered a stroke in August and underwent surgery. His failure to appear at a September military parade celebrating North Korea’s 60th anniversary had sparked speculation about his health.

However, Roux said Kim is improving. “I have the impression that he is in charge in North Korea,” he told Le Figaro in an interview published Thursday.