North Korea's Foreign Ministry has rejected Western reports that portraits of Kim Jong-Il have been taken down from some public buildings in Pyongyang, calling them groundless lies.

Western diplomats in Pyongyang recently said that Kim's portraits had started to be removed from public buildings in the capital and elsewhere in recent weeks.

Diplomats in Pyongyang and other analysts believe that such a move may have been aimed at improving the image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il by toning down his personality cult.