A train presumably owned by Kim Jong Un was spotted in satellite photos of a seaside resort in eastern North Korea, states the American reference site 38North, when the state of health of the North Korean fuels speculation.
No proof
The train appears on the photos on April 21 and 23 at a station that is reserved for the Kim family, the site said in an article released on Saturday. 38North explains that the presence of this train "does not prove anything as to the whereabouts of the North Korean leader nor does it indicate anything about his state of health". "But that does lend credence to reports that Kim Jong Un is in an elite area on the east coast," said the site.
But hypotheses
North Korean experts are lost in speculation about the health of Kim Jong Un who did not appear in any of the official photographs of the April 15 celebrations. This day is however the most important on the North Korean political calendar because it is the day on which the whole country commemorates the birth of the founder of the regime, Kim Il Sung, grandfather of the current leader.
Kim Jong Un has not appeared in public since a meeting of the ruling party's political bureau on April 11 and an inspection tour of an air base that had been reported by official North Korean media on April 12.
Daily NK, an online media outlet run mainly by defected North Koreans, said the North Korean leader had been operated on in April for cardiovascular problems and was recovering in a villa in the province from North Pyongan.
"Excessive smoking" and "obesity"
Citing an unidentified North Korean source, the media claimed that Kim Jong Un, who is in his 30s, had to be treated urgently because of problems linked to "his excessive smoking, obesity and fatigue." "
South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North, had downplayed this information. CNN, citing an American official, for its part reported that Washington "studied (information)" according to which Kim Jong Un was "in serious danger after a surgical operation".
But Thursday, US President Donald Trump said the information about a possible deterioration in the state of health of the North Korean leader was "wrong".
Also on Thursday, the South Korean channel SBS reported citing an unidentified government official that Kim Jong Un appeared to have been in Wonsan for at least four days and that he would soon reappear in public.
She added that the South Korean army was monitoring the whereabouts of Kim Jong Un's train, which had been seen in Wonsan, while his plane - which he often uses to go to Wonsan - was in Pyongyang.
A previous
It is not the first time that Kim's "absence" has fueled all kinds of speculation. In 2014, he had not been seen for six weeks before reappearing with a cane. South Korean intelligence quoted by Yonhap said he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst in his ankle.
The coverage of North Korean news is particularly complicated, especially for everything related to the private life of Kim Jong Un who is one of the regime's best kept secrets.
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