May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had been assassinated are `false,' South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho Nyun said.

``We have been able to determine that the reports are false,'' Kim said in a telephone interview.

South Korean internet service Hankuk News reported late yesterday that Kim had been assassinated outside Pyongyang on May 26, citing unidentified officials in China and South Korea.

North Korea's official Korea Central News Agency in a report dated yesterday said Kim visited a chemical factory to give ``on-the-spot guidance.'' The report did not say when Kim visited the site.

Kim, known for his bouffant hairdo and zip-front olive-green jackets, has led the isolated communist nation of 23 million people since his father Kim Il Sung died in 1994. The little that is known of Kim outside of North Korea tends to come through the filter of the state-run media.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heejin Koo in Seoul at hjkoo@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 28, 2008 22:32 EDT