"It is sophism by bad people who wish ill for our country," North Korean foreign ministry official Hyon Hak-bong was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency at talks with South Koreans at a truce village on the border dividing the Korean peninsula.
Reclusive leader Kim, 66, may have suffered a stroke in recent weeks, South Korean and U.S. officials have said, raising questions about a power vacuum in the communist state.
Hyon also said his country was restoring a nuclear plant that makes arms-grade plutonium and was once disabled under a disarmament deal.
"We are thoroughly undertaking preparations to carry out restoration work," he was quoted as saying, referring to steps to return its Yongbyon nuclear plant back into operation after it began disabling it under a six-country aid-for-disarmament deal.
Hyon said the steps were needed because the North had not been given "political compensation," referring to a proposed U.S. move to delist the country from a state terrorism list.
The officials are meeting at the Panmunjom truce village to discuss energy aid under the disarmament deal.
