Kim Jong Un is "alive and well," said South Korean President Moon Jae-in's special adviser on national security, downplaying rumors of the North Korean leader's poor health. "Our government's position is firm," councilor Moon Chung-in told US television station CNN on Sunday: "Kim Jong Un is alive and well."
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The adviser added that the North Korean leader had been staying since April 13 in Wonsan, a seaside resort in the east of the country. "No suspicious action has so far been detected," he said.
Rumors of Kim Jong Un's health have escalated since his absence noted during birthday celebrations on April 15. This day is however the most important of the North Korean political calendar, the country commemorates the birth of the founder of the regime, Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader.
Possible cardiovascular problems
Kim Jong Un has not appeared in public since a meeting of the political bureau of the single ruling party on April 11 and an inspection tour of an air base that had been mentioned by the official North Korean media on April 12.
Daily NK, an online media outlet run mainly by defected North Koreans, claimed that Kim Jong Un had been operated on in April for cardiovascular problems and that he was recuperating in a villa in Pyongan province North. Citing an unidentified North Korean source, the media claimed that Kim, who is in his 30s, had to be treated urgently due to problems related to "his excessive smoking, obesity and fatigue. ".
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South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North, had put this information into perspective. "We have nothing to confirm" these speculations and "no specific action has been detected inside North Korea so far," the office of the South Korean president said in a statement this week. last.
"Wrong" information according to Donald Trump
CNN, quoting an American official, had for its part reported that Washington "[was studying] reports" 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".
On Monday, the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported that Kim Jong Un sent a message of thanks to the workers of the gigantic coastal tourism project of Wonsan Kalma.