The New York Times says Friday's meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and a visiting Chinese official was an attempt to demonstrate to the outside world that Kim is healthy.

The report said Pyongyang sought to show through the meeting that Kim is healthy enough to make important decisions about the North's nuclear weapons program and deal with the new American administration.

Kim held talks with Wang Jiarui, chief of the Chinese Communist Party's international Department.

The U.S. daily said the dialogue in Pyongyang was Kim's first public meeting with a foreign visitor since August last year, when he is believed to have suffered a stroke.

The paper also noted another sign that the leader’s health is improving, citing North Korea’s recent announcement that it will hold a long-delayed parliamentary elections March 8.

The Times said the elections had been expected in August last year, and that the first task of the legislature will be re-elect the North Korean leader to another five-year term as chairman of the National Defense Commission.