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Post by shalom on Apr 20, 2020 23:21:53 GMT -5
US monitoring intelligence that North Korean leader is in grave danger after surgery
Jim Sciutto-Profile-ImageCNN Digital Expansion Shoot, Joshua Berlinger By Jim Sciutto and Joshua Berlinger, CNN Updated 11:17 PM ET, Mon April 20, 2020 (CNN)The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge. Kim recently missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15, which raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting. Another US official told CNN Monday that the concerns about Kim's health are credible but the severity is hard to assess. Daily NK, an online newspaper based in South Korea that focuses on North Korea, reports that Kim reportedly received a cardiovascular system procedure on April 12. Kim received the cardiovascular system procedure because of "excessive smoking, obesity, and overwork," according to the news site, and is now receiving treatment in a villa in Hyangsan County following his procedure. 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, according to the news site. CNN is unable to independently confirm the report. The National Security Council and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment when reached by CNN on Monday. CNN has also reached out to the CIA and the State Department for comment and sought comment from the South Koreans. Gathering intelligence out of North Korea is notoriously difficult -- one of the most challenging targets for US intelligence. North Korea tightly controls any information surrounding its leader, who is treated almost like a deity within the country. His absences from official state media often spark speculation and rumors about his health. North Korea has no free press and is often a black hole when it comes to the country's leadership. Analysts are heavily reliant on scanning state media dispatches and watching propaganda videos for any semblance of a clue. Kim last appeared in North Korean state media on April 11. April 15 -- North Korea's most important holiday, the anniversary of the birth of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung -- came and went without any official mention of Kim Jong Un's movements. Experts are unsure of what to make of Kim's absence from any festivities celebrating his grandfather. When North Korean leaders have not shown up to these important celebrations in the past, it has portended major developments. But it has also turned out to be nothing. "There have been a number of recent rumors about Kim's health (smoking, heart, and brain). If Kim is hospitalized, it would explain why he wasn't present on the important April 15th celebrations," said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA deputy division chief for North Korea. "But, over the years, there have been a number of false health rumors about Kim Jong-un or his father. We'll have to wait and see." Kim Jong Il's absence from a parade celebrating North Korea's 60th anniversary in 2008 was followed by rumblings that he was in poor health. It was later revealed he had a stroke, after which his health continued to decline until his death in 2011. Kim Jong Un disappeared from the public eye for more than a month in 2014, which also prompted speculation about his health. He returned sporting a cane, and days later South Korean intelligence said that he had a cyst removed from his ankle. "It's easy to be wrong on this one," said John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul. This story is breaking and will be updated. link
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Post by shalom on Apr 20, 2020 23:23:23 GMT -5
Apparently at one time his family were devout Christians! The family of Dictator Kim Il-sung were devout Christians
by Joseph Yun Li-sunThe parents of the Father of North Korea were well known to Korea’s Christian community in the 1940s. To eliminate religion and impose his cult of personality, as ordered by Stalin, the ‘eternal president’ repudiated his parents and turned them into Communist heroes. However, before an operation, he asked a doctor to pray together to God. Seoul (AsiaNews) – The parents of Kim Il-sung, grandparents of current North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-il, were devout Christians. The son, later known as the ‘eternal president’ of North Korea, had to repudiate their religion, pushed by the Soviets, in order to eliminate all of the country’s religions and replace them with his own cult of personality. However, this was not fully accomplished since even Kim the first, before a surgical operation, prayed with his doctor. Some North Korean exiles that fled south have made these revelations. The foremost of them is certainly Kim Hyun-sik, who today teaches at Yale University after spending 38 years at Pyongyang’s most prestigious college. According to him, both Kim Hyong-jik and Kang Ban-sok (Kim Il-sung’s father and mother) were not only Christian, but were also devout. Ban-sok is actually the Korean name for Peter, which was also given to baby girls. In North Korea, people are organised in 51 classes. The top three are the most loyal to the Kim family and its cult of personality, which requires worship for the ‘eternal president’ and his son, the ‘dear leader’, as the country’s only deities. Anyone practicing another religion or found with religious material is treated as “hostile” and banned from the country’s public life. Even though Kim Il-sung’s was very close to his parents, he was “convinced” by Stalin to crack down on their religion. Still, in his autobiography, the president acknowledged that they attended church, albeit “to take a rest (at a church).” They became widely known among North Korean Christians the 1940s; however, their life was eventually used by the new regime for propaganda purposes. His mother in fact is celebrated today as “the mother of Chosun who gave birth to and raised the Great Leader of revolution, indomitable Champion of the Communist Revolution,” the “champion who conducted the Chosun women's movement”. His father became “a great pioneer of Marxism, fighting his entire life against capitalism, saving his homeland.” However, there is evidence that the process of historical reconstruction did not entirely rid Kim Il-sing’s of his Christian past. Some witnesses say that prior to an important surgery, Kim prayed with a doctor. Indeed, when the doctor offered to pray before the surgery, Kim Il-Sung responded, “Pray for me.” They then prayed together. Since the instauration of the Communist regime in 1953, some 300,000 Christians have disappeared. The country has no more priests or nuns, killed perhaps during the wave of persecution. At present, about 100,000 languish in labour camps victims of hunger, torture and even death. Former North Korean officials and prisoners have said that in re-education camps and prisons Christians are singled out for harsher treatment. Likewise, no one knows the fate of the country’s Catholic bishops. According to the Pontifical Yearbook, the capital’s bishop is still in his post. Pyongyang claims that the country enjoys religious freedom, guaranteed by the constitution. Officially, there are 10,000 Buddhists, 10,000 Protestants and 4,000 Catholics registered with recognised associations. In Pyongyang, there are three churches, two Protestant and one Catholic. However, sources have told AsiaNews that Catholics are no more than 200 who have not attended any religious service for decades. link
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Post by Berean on Apr 20, 2020 23:55:43 GMT -5
THERE ARE UNCONFIRMED (UNCONFIRMED) REPORTS that North Korean's Kim has died from complications after surgery.
NBC NEWS' KATY TUR REPORTED but has since delated her tweet.
Tur said: "I’ve deleted that last tweet out of an abundance of caution. Waiting on more info. Apologies."
This is something to be watching.
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Post by J.J.Gibbs on Apr 21, 2020 2:48:27 GMT -5
U.S. Officials Not Sure If Kim Jong Un Is ‘Dead Or Alive’, Exploring Line Of Succession, Report Says
By Ryan SaavedraDailyWire.com U.S. officials are reportedly not sure if North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is “dead or alive” following a flurry of reports late on Monday that cast serious doubt on Kim’s health following a reported surgery that he underwent. “The Trump administration wasn’t sure whether Kim was dead or alive, said the official, who asked not to be identified,” Bloomberg News reported. The report’s author, Jennifer Jacobs, added on Twitter, “Trump admin received information that Kim Jong Un had heart surgery last week and if he’s alive, his health is poor, I’m told. KJU hasn’t been seen at key events in recent days. It’s unclear to US officials if he’s dead or alive.” Jacobs added, “Trump administration officials are looking into who would be in the line of succession if Kim Jong Un dies or is already dead, I’m told.” Meanwhile, Reuters reported that South Korea’s Yonhap news agency claimed that Kim was not seriously ill, contradicting CNN’s initial reporting. CNN had initially reported: The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge. Kim received the cardiovascular system procedure because of “excessive smoking, obesity, and overwork,” according to [Daily NK], and is now receiving treatment in a villa in Hyangsan County following his procedure. In a separate report, Bloomberg News reported on the Daily NK: The Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that gathers information from informants inside the isolated nation, reported Tuesday that Kim underwent a “cardiovascular surgical procedure” and was now mostly recovered. It was impossible to immediately verify the report, which the Daily NK said was based on one person inside North Korea. The Daily NK is part of a group of non-for-profit agencies affiliated with the South Korean Unification Ministry, and has occasionally been contacted by Seoul officials for information. The outlet’s backers include the U.S.’s National Endowment for Democracy, which awarded it $400,000 last year to “raise awareness and understanding of the conditions in North Korea by disseminating accurate, timely and relevant news and information about the country.” The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), whose lying and cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak led to a global pandemic, reportedly claims that Kim is not critically ill. “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not believed to be critically ill, an official with the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department told Reuters on Tuesday, following media reports about the state of Kim’s health,” Reuters reported. “The official declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. The International Liaison Department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea.” Again, any information coming out of China should be taken worth a grain of salt due to the fact that they are not trustworthy and have a well documented history of lying. On a separate note, North Korea has claimed that it has had no coronavirus cases in its country, despite being neighbors with China and having an extremely poor health care system. “Experts say North Korea’s reluctance to admit major outbreaks of disease, its wrecked medical infrastructure and its extreme sensitivity to any potential threat to Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule means that Pyongyang is likely handling the current coronavirus pandemic in the same manner,” TIME reported. “This has led to widespread skepticism over the nation’s claim to have zero infections.” Choi Jung Hun, an alleged doctor, told TIME: “It’s a lie. Year after year, and in every season, diverse infectious diseases repeatedly occur but North Korea says there isn’t any outbreak.” link
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Post by schwartzie on Apr 21, 2020 14:31:46 GMT -5
It Looks Like CNN Blew the Kim Jong-un Is Dead or Dying Story…And They’re Not Alone
Matt VespaMatt Vespa| @mvespa1|Posted: Apr 21, 2020 4:00 AM Source: Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP Well, it finally happened. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly had heart surgery and suffered a severe complication that left him in a dire medical situation. He could also be dead. That’s what CNN and NBC News’ Katy Tur peddled out respectively. Granted, this is a closed society, so be cautious and after China totally botched a science experiment in one of their virology labs in Wuhan which led to the current COVID-19 pandemic—I’m not trusting their sources either. It led to some excellent memes and social media posts. There were also very serious discussions about who would take over. Kim’s children are very young. He has one daughter and two other children who we really don’t know about. See tweets at link
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Post by J.J.Gibbs on Apr 21, 2020 23:12:27 GMT -5
Thing about N. Korea, they're so secretive you never know what's true and what isn't. Since they worship him, they'd probably never admit to the world that he's sick. My prayer is that N. Korea is opened to the gospel - and maybe if he's really sick this will literally scare the hell out of him and he'll turn to the Christian faith of his grandparents (surely they shared the gospel with him!), or his death will cause the gospel to be spread. I guess we'll soon find out. South Korea Continues to Downplay Questions About Kim Jong Un's Health
In this undated file photo provided by the North Korean government on April 12, 2020, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects an air defense unit in western area, North Korea. The South Korean government is looking into reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in fragile condition after surgery. Officials from South Korea’s Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service couldn’t immediately confirm the reports citing an anonymous U.S. official who said Kim was in “grave danger.” Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP BY KIM TONG-HYUNG / AP APRIL 21, 2020 (SEOUL, South Korea) — South Korean officials reported no unusual activity in North Korea on Tuesday following unconfirmed media reports that leader Kim Jong Un was in fragile health after surgery. But the possibly of high-level instability raised troubling questions about the future of a nuclear-armed state that has been steadily building an arsenal meant to threaten the U.S. mainland while diplomacy between Kim and President Donald Trump is stalled. South Korea’s presidential office said Kim appeared to be handling state affairs as usual and that it had no information about rumors regarding his health. But many will be watching closely for any signs of trouble in North Korea, and whether it will address the reports — something it has not yet done. The United States and North Korea appeared to be barreling toward war in 2017, with the countries trading insults and threats of destruction. The next two years saw a surprising series of summits, including three between Kim and Trump, as Kim pursued diplomacy in hopes of ending crippling economic sanctions and obtaining security guarantees. But through it all he maintained his right to a nuclear arsenal, and most diplomacy has stalemated since. South Korea Says No 'Suspicious Activity' in North Korea After Report on Kim Jong Un's Health The South Korean government said Tuesday no unusual activity has been detected in North Korea after unconfirmed reports described leader Kim Jong Un as in fragile condition after heart surgery. SharePlay Video (At link) Speculation often surfaces about North Korea’s leadership based on attendance at important state events. Kim, who is in his mid-30s, missed the celebration of the birthday of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15, the country’s most important holiday. But he presided over a meeting on April 11, discussing coronavirus prevention and electing his sister as an alternate member of the political bureau of the ruling Workers’ Party, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. And state media have since reported he sent greetings to Syrian President Bashar Assad and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel as well as arranging special birthday meals for two North Korean officials and a new centenarian. “We have no information to confirm regarding rumors about Chairman Kim Jong Un’s health issue that have been reported by some media outlets,” South Korean presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said. “Also, no unusual developments have been detected inside North Korea.” The presidential office later said Kim is believed to be staying at an unspecified location outside of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, with some close confidants. It said Kim appeared to be normally engaged with state affairs and there wasn’t any unusual movement or emergency reaction from North Korea’s ruling party, military or Cabinet. “I just hope he’s doing fine,” President Donald Trump said. “I’d like to see him be well and we’ll see how he does.” He cautioned during a White House briefing that he doesn’t know if the reports are true. A U.S. official said the White House was aware before the reports appeared late Monday that Kim’s health might be precarious. The official said the U.S. had information that Kim may have undergone surgery and that complications may have rendered him “incapacitated or worse.” But, the official stressed that the U.S. had nothing to confirm the surgery had taken place or that any complications had occurred. The U.S. official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, would not elaborate on where the information came from or when it had been received. Conservative South Korean lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, chairman of the National Assembly’s foreign affairs and unification committee, said he was told by unspecified non-government sources that Kim had surgery for cardiovascular problems. But an official from Seoul’s National Intelligence Service, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules, said the spy agency couldn’t confirm whether Kim had surgery. It’s unclear what would happen if Kim is sidelined by health problems or dies. Still less than a decade into Kim’s rule, North Korea has yet to give any meaningful indication of who would succeed him as leader. Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, said political upheaval would be unlikely as Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, is already exercising significant influence within the government, and most members of North Korea’s leadership share an interest with the Kim family in maintaining the North’s system. However, Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University and a policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, sees the possibility of a violent power struggle. While Kim Yo Jong would most likely emerge as leader during a transitional period, other members of the top elite could try to reduce her to a figurehead while making important decisions from the shadows, Koh said. North Korea has seen similar power struggles that ended with bloody purges during its seven decades of Kim family rule. Kim Jong Un’s 2013 execution of his uncle and mentor, Jang Song Thaek, who was accused of treason and corruption, was seen as a major step in consolidating his rule. Hong Min, a senior analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea once Kim is gone could be ruled by a collective leadership from the ruling party’s elite, similar to the post-Stalin Soviet Union. While it is perhaps too early to seriously contemplate Kim’s potential demise considering his age, his supposed heart and other health problems could become increasing factors in the years ahead, Hong said. Robert O’Brien, the U.S. national security adviser, said the Trump administration is monitoring the reports about Kim’s health “very closely.” O’Brien said Tuesday during a television interview with Fox News Channel that North Korea is “parsimonious with the information they provide about many things, including the health of Kim Jong Un, so we’re monitoring these developments closely.” Kim In-chul, spokesman for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said Seoul and Washington are maintaining close communication but didn’t provide a direct answer when asked whether the allies exchanged any meaningful intelligence about Kim’s health. Outside governments and media have a mixed record on tracking developments among North Korea’s ruling elite, made difficult by the North’s stringent control of information about them. In 2016, South Korean media quoted intelligence officials as saying Kim Jong Un had had a former military chief executed for corruption and other charges. But months later, North Korea’s state media showed Ri Yong Gil alive and serving in new senior posts. Kim’s absence from state media often triggers speculation. In 2014, he vanished from the public eye for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane. South Korea’s spy agency said days later that he had a cyst removed from his ankle. Kim took power upon his father’s death in December 2011 and is the third generation of his family to rule the country. link
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Post by bloodbought on Apr 22, 2020 1:52:47 GMT -5
In no way do I see North Korea being a player in the Gog/Magog war, but there's some interesting info in this article. Kim Jong Un Dissapears: Here’s how One Rabbi Connects it to ‘Opening Gates of Hell’
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz April 21, 2020 , 12:48 pm Change of leadership in North Korea is usually associated with brutal inter-family assassinations, sometimes by nerve gas or flame-thrower, so Kim Jon Un’s non-appearance at the most significant event of the year was cause for grave speculation by political pundits. But even more significant are the end-of-days implications of a new, perhaps even more aggressive, leader of the nuclear-armed nation. REPORTS OF FAILING HEALTH AND HEART SURGERY Rumors that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is struggling for his life intensified last Wednesday after he failed to appear at a major event commemorating the birthday of Kim’s grandfather Kim Il Sung, who founded North Korea as a communist state in 1948. The day is considered the most important holiday in the country’s calendar. Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, reported on Tuesday that Kim Jong Un underwent heart surgery on April 12 and is recuperating at a villa outside of Pyongyang. The surgery was performed at a hospital near Mount Myohyang, in North Pyongan Province, and is exclusively for the use of the Kim family. NORTH KOREA: PROPHESIED HEAD OF GOG AND MAGOG ARMIES North Korea was not always considered the rogue nation it is today and has never been considered an existential threat to Israel. So it was shocking when Rabbi Levi Sa’adia Nachamani, the most prominent kabbalist of the time, gave a speech in 1994, one month before he died, he surprisingly warned that of all the threats to Israel, North Korea posed the most danger. “Not Syria, not Persia (Iran), and not Babylon (Iraq), and not Gaddafi (Libya),” the rabbi said, naming Israel’s greatest threats at the time. “Korea will arrive here.” Rabbi Nachmani’s prediction was shocking for many reasons. He had accurately predicted the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973, giving credence to his prediction, but it was inconceivable that the threats he mentioned, all posing the greatest dangers to Israel at the time, would vanish. As time has shown, that is precisely what has happened since the rabbi made his speech. In Rabbi Nachmani’s prediction, he provided an oblique Biblical reference to support his claim that the distant country would one day become a major threat. He warned that ‘She’ol’ would come to Israel. She’ol is Hebrew for Hell, but it is spelled the same way in Hebrew as Seoul, the capital of (South) Korea. The rabbi cited a verse hinting at the name of the distant city with nuclear overtones. They have roused Me to jealousy with a no-god; they have provoked Me with their vanities; and I will rouse them to jealousy with a no-people; I will provoke them with a vile nation. For a fire is kindled in My nostril, and burneth unto the depths of the nether-world (She’ol), and devoureth the earth with her produce, and setteth ablaze the foundations of the mountains. Deuteronomy 32:22 A 1,500-year-old cryptic prediction describing the War of Gog and Magog as being initiated in the north has been interpreted by several prominent Torah scholars as identifying North Korea as the head of the armies that rise up against Jerusalem. Recorded in Aramaic in a book titled Nevuat HaYeled (Prophecy of the Child), very few scholars are able to understand the messages given by a child in Tsfat in 872 CE. The child had a miraculous birth and died at the age of 12 after giving over his messages. KIM JONG UNS LEGACY OF DEATH Kim Jong Un is an ambiguous character with few details known about his conflicting reports of his actual birth date though it is officially listed as January 8, 1982, making him 38 years old. Almost all of the details of his life before taking rule are unsubstantiated and obfuscated. He is known to drink significant amounts of alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and prefer a lavish lifestyle. He weighs 290 pounds, is diabetic, and suffers from hypertension. He suffered a stroke in 2008. He is known to have a ten-year-old daughter though there are reports of other possible children. He is accused of countless human rights violations and is currently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for those violations. The UN and the U.S. have sanctioned North Korea it’s nuclear and missile programs. North Korea has been intensifying its weapons testing since negotiations with the U.S. concerning its nuclear weapons program broke down. North and South Korea are technically at war since the war, begun in 1950, ended three years later with no signed peace treaty. he Korean War was among the most destructive conflicts of the modern era, with approximately 3 million war fatalities and a larger proportional civilian death toll than World War II or the Vietnam War. It incurred the destruction of virtually all of Korea’s major cities. Hope was lifted in April 2018, when U.S. President Trump facilitated a meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea met at the Demilitarized Zone and agreed to work towards a treaty to formally end the Korean War. Kim Il-sung’s birthday is a public holiday in North Korea called the “Day of the Sun”. In 1998, four years after he died, Kim Il-sung was declared “eternal President of the Republic”. He established a dynastic rule in North Korea known as the Mount Paektu Bloodline of which Kim Jong Un is the third ruler. In 2013, two years after Kim Jong Un assumed office, Clause 2 of Article 10 of the new edited Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System states that the party and revolution must be carried “eternally” by the “Baekdu bloodline.” In 2013, this dynasty was centralized when Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of Jang Song-thaek, Kim Jong Un’s brother-in-law. He was a powerful government figure, married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only other child of Kim Il-sung. There have been external reports that all the members of Jang Song-thaek’s family were subsequently put to death. According to a South Korean newspaper, Jang’s nephew, O Sang-hon, was executed by being burnt alive with a flame thrower. In 2017, Kim Jong Un’s older brother an heir-apparent to the rule, Kim Jong-nam was assassinated with the chemical nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. Kim Jong Nam’s eldest son, Kim Han-sol, disappeared from university in Hong Kong in 2013 after criticizing the North Korean government on Finnish media. It is believed that Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, is next-in-line to take his place as the ruler of North Korea. She is also being sanctioned by the U.S. for human rights violations. link
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Post by bloodbought on Apr 25, 2020 0:06:43 GMT -5
President Trump: CNN report on Kim Jong-Un illness was fake
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Post by shalom on Apr 27, 2020 14:36:34 GMT -5
North Korean media offers Kim Jong Un letter as proof he’s still alive
By Yaron SteinbuchApril 27, 2020 | 6:51am | Updated North Korean media offers Kim Jong Un letter as proof he's still alive With rumors swirling about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a state-run newspaper tried to prove the despot is alive and well by reporting that he has sent a thank-you letter to builders in a seaside resort. The Rodong Sinmun outlet claimed Monday that Kim penned the message to builders working on a tourism project in Wonsan, where South Korea believes the leader has been staying since April 13, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. “Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has sent his appreciation to the workers who devoted themselves to building the Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone,” the Rodong Sinmun reported. The Korean Central Broadcasting Station made a similar report, according to Yonhap. The reports are the latest about North Korea’s strongman, who has been the subject of rampant speculation in recent days that he had died, was in a vegetative state, or — as South Korea says — is absolutely fine. The US monitoring website 38 North has reported that satellite imagery showed what appeared to be Kim’s personal train parked at a station in “his Wonsan compound since at least April 21.” “The train’s presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast,” it reported. Questions about the reclusive dictator’s health flared after he missed an April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, the Hermit Kingdom’s founder, Kim Il Sung. Meanwhile, other unverified rumors are that Kim may have been injured during a recent missile test and that he went into hiding after one of his bodyguards was suspected to have contracted COVID-19, according to the Mirror. A unnamed source in China told the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo that Kim skipped the birthday bash for his late grandfather because of his guard’s possible infection, the UK news outlet reported. Another South Korean outlet, Dong-A Ilbo, quoted an unnamed US official as saying Kim left Pyongyang for Wonsan to avoid the virus, the Mirror reported. Moon Chung-in, a special security adviser to South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, said Sunday in an interview with Fox News that Kim is “alive and well.” Kim was last seen at a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party to discuss the coronavirus threat on April 11. He is claimed to have undergone heart surgery the following day. President Trump has indicated he believes reports that Kim is in failing health are “fake." Video at link
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Post by schwartzie on Apr 27, 2020 15:22:35 GMT -5
Kim Jong-un’s Absence and North Korea’s Silence Keep Rumor Mill Churning
Rumors about the North Korean leader’s health — and speculation over his possible death — have only increased over the past two weeks. Where Is Kim Jong-un? How Experts Track North Korea’s Leader By Choe Sang-Hun Published April 26, 2020 Updated April 27, 2020, 7:31 a.m. ET 阅读简体中文版閱讀繁體中文版 SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is still sending letters and gifts to foreign leaders and domestic workers in the name of its leader, Kim Jong-un. Its news media brims, as usual, with panegyrical propaganda extolling Mr. Kim’s leadership. South Korea reiterates that it has detected “nothing unusual” in the North. President Trump has called “incorrect” and “fake” a report that Mr. Kim was “in grave danger” after surgery. All this has done little to stop the rumor mill churning about Mr. Kim’s health and the fate of the nuclear state — for the simple reason that North Korea has not reported a public appearance by its leader for two weeks. Nor has it responded to lurid claims about his health. The lack of real information from the hermetic country is giving rise to rampant rumor mongering, leaving North Korean experts, foreign officials and intelligence agencies to parse through it all for signs of the truth. [Update: South Korea confident that rumors of Kim Jong-un illness are wrong.] Depending on the news outlet or social media post, Mr. Kim, believed to be 36, is recuperating after a minor health issue like a sprained ankle, or he is “in grave danger” after a heart surgery. Or he has become “brain dead” or is in a “vegetative state” after a heart-valve surgery gone wrong at the hands of a nervous North Korean surgeon or one of the doctors China dispatched to treat him. Or Mr. Kim is grounded with Covid-19. Where did he get it? From one of those Chinese doctors. One rumor circulating in South Korean messaging apps claims that after French doctors could not wake Mr. Kim from his “coma,” Kim Pyong-il, a half brother of Mr. Kim’s late father, seized power with the help of pro-Chinese elites in Pyongyang, the North’s capital. It goes on to say that Mr. Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, has been detained while Beijing is secretly bargaining with Washington over the future of North Korea and its nuclear weapons. ImageMr. Kim, center top, attending a Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, the capital, on April 11, in a photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency. Mr. Kim, center top, attending a Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, the capital, on April 11, in a photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency.Credit...Korean Central News Agency Seoul has questioned the accuracy of the unconfirmed reports, while the South Korean news media appears to dismiss most of them as online rumors spreading through Chinese social media and beyond. But they cannot be completely ignored, since North Korea is so secretive that the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies have been unable to penetrate Mr. Kim’s inner circles. Mr. Kim last appeared publicly on April 11, when he presided over a Politburo meeting. Speculations about his health began swirling after Mr. Kim missed state celebrations for his country’s biggest holiday, the April 15 birthday of his grandfather and founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung. Rumors went into overdrive after Daily NK, a Seoul-based website relying on anonymous sources inside the North, reported on Monday that Mr. Kim was recovering from heart surgery performed on April 12. The next day, CNN added to the frenzy, reporting that Washington was monitoring intelligence that Mr. Kim was “in grave danger.” On Saturday, TMZ, a celebrity-news tabloid website in the United States, blared: “N. Korea dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly dead after botched heart surgery.” More than once, Mr. Trump has wished Mr. Kim well if he indeed were ill. Full article with video at link
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