North Korea’s silence on Kim’s health triggers rumours amid pandemic

Is North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un grounded with COVID-19? The ongoing pandemic crisis and other health speculations are being linked to Kim’s public absence despite South Korea’s assertion that there have been “no unusual developments” in the North and Washington’s dismissal of such reports.

Kim Jong-un, the dictator of the world’s most isolated police state, had presided over a Politburo meeting on April 11, which was reportedly his last public appearance. He had even missed the state celebrations on April 15 that marked the birth anniversary of his grandfather and North Korea’s founder Kim II-Sung.

Related news: South Korea maintains Kim Jong Un health rumours are untrue

This absence from public life fuelled severe speculations on the leader’s health, a concern that was highlighted in media across the globe. A third generation ruler of his family, Kim had never missed the state celebrations since assuming power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il in late 2011.

North Korea’s state media has been absolutely silent on Kim’s health, though it said on April 27 he had sent his thanks to the workers at a construction site. Did Kim get infected with the deadly coronavirus? Is he in grave danger following a heart surgery? Is he in a vegetative state, or even alive? No one knows.

Nothing to worry?

Seoul has dismissed reports that Kim is in a fragile condition, with unification minister Kim Yeon-chul telling a closed-door forum that the South has enough intelligence to confidently claim there are no unusual developments in the North that would back up speculations about Kim’s health.

US President Donald Trump had last week rejected reports claiming the Korean leader was ailing. Interestingly, he declined to reveal if he had direct knowledge from North Korea about Kim’s wellbeing. His comments came after the CNN reported US was “monitoring intelligence” that he was in “grave danger”.

What fuels more speculation is a recent statement from President Trump where he claimed to know the health status of the North Korean leader. According to a TIME report, Trump suggested the additional details would be given out “in the not too distant future”, but declined to comment further.

The above mentioned comment indicates the US President believes that Kim is at least alive, even, if not in perfect health. Or that’s exactly what he wanted the media to believe. North Korea is expected to issue an official statement on this, without which it seems impossible to get a hint of what’s going on there.

Of rumours and more

From a botched heart surgery to getting infected with COVID-19, speculations have been aplenty regarding Kim’s health.

Daily NK, a Seoul-based website, reported on April 20 the North Korean leader was recovering from a heart surgery that was performed on April 12. The report quoted an anonymous source from inside the country, triggering an overdrive of speculations about the 36-year-old leader’s health.

Next day, CNN reported Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in “grave danger” after undergoing the surgery. However, Trump dubbed this as a fake report when he termed reports regarding Kim’s health as untrue. The acrimonious relationship between CNN and Trump is not unknown.

What added to the frenzy was US-based celebrity tabloid TMZ reporting that Kim had died following a botched surgery. “N. Korea dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly dead after botched heart surgery”: the headline was loud and clear, though it added Kim could also be in death bed with no hope of recuperation.

Chances of him contracting the coronavirus cannot be entirely sidelined, given a head of state (UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson) has already been infected with the disease. But with no evidence, this seems unlikely since such speculations could also be a result of current dilemma; but who knows.

Related news: Satellite imagery of Kim Jong Un’s ‘train’ raises eyebrows on his health

Meanwhile, a train belonging to the Korean leader was spotted near his compound in Wonsan, a town on the country’s east coast, reported 38 North, a Washington-based website that specializes on North Korea. Reports suggest Wonsan is one of Kim’s favourite missile test sites.

The North Korean leader had earlier disappeared from the state media for six weeks in 2014, in a much similar fashion. There were speculations that he had an ankle injury or his regime has been overthrown, reports suggested then. However, Kim soon made an appearance again, putting all speculations to rest.

What if he’s dead?

A NYT report says Kim’s sudden demise could create a power vacuum with far-reaching implications. The joint efforts of the US and South Korea to de-nuclearise the North could end up in vain if its nuclear weapons fall into the wrong hands, or if China sends its troops into North Korea, in the event of Kim’s death.

One can only hazard a guess on who would succeed Kim, given the fact that no clear information regarding this is available to the external world. Kim’s only sister, Kim Yo-jong, who has recently expanded her role in the government, could be one on the list of heirs.