SEOUL: The US and South Korean governments were trying to confirm the health condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday, after multiple media outlets raised questions about the 36-year-old’s health following surgery.
Citing an unidentified American official “with direct knowledge,” CNN reported on Tuesday that the US government is monitoring intelligence that Kim is “in grave danger.” The report offered no further details.
A day earlier, a South Korea-based online newspaper specializing in North Korean affairs reported that Kim underwent heart surgery on April 12 due to “excessive smoking, obesity and overwork.”
It added: “After assessing that Kim’s condition had improved, most of the medical team treating him returned to Pyongyang on April 19 and only part of them remained to oversee his recovery situation.”
However, rumor mills began churning soon after Kim missed his grandfather’s birthday celebrations on April 15. Four days before that, he was seen attending a government meeting.
The South Korean presidential office was cautious about Kim’s well-being. “We’ve seen no unusual signs (regarding his health),” an official told reporters, asking not to be identified. “Our intelligence suggests … Kim has been staying with his aides in local provinces.”
A spokesman of the Unification Ministry handling North Korean affairs said: “It’s inappropriate to make mention of the unconfirmed news reports.”
The health of Kim, who is known to be a heavy smoker, is one of North Korea’s most closely guarded secrets. He has been shown in state media in recent months appearing at military drills and riding a white horse on the country’s revered Mt. Baekdu.
HIGHLIGHT
Rumors swirl following reports of Kim Jong Un, 36, undergoing heart surgery.
Prof. Kim Yong-hwan of Dongguk University said he is unsure why Kim was absent from the event marking the anniversary of the birth of the communist state’s founding father.
“It’s rare that the North Korean leader didn’t attend the most important ceremony,” he told Arab News. “But if he’s doing something more important, like the response to the spread of the novel coronavirus or on-site inspections in local provinces, the absence could be understood a little bit.”
Independent lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, chief of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters: “There’s obviously something happening in the North. I was told by an informed intelligence source that the North Korean capital has been blocked recently.” The lawmaker did not reveal the identity of the intelligence source.
Yoon said he anticipates that Kim’s younger sister Yo Jong would take the helm of the reclusive state if her brother did have a serious health problem.
In January, she was named as a first vice department director of the central committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of North Korea.
On Sunday, US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris announced the arrival of additional RQ-4 Global Hawk long-range unmanned surveillance aircraft to the country.
The RQ-4 is known to be capable of conducting surveillance missions over areas as large as 100,000 sq. km, roughly the size of South Korea.
