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'Needle mark' on Kim Jong-un's wrist in newly released video suggests he had heart surgery: Experts

Video footage of the North Korean dictator's visit to the factory in Suncheon showed a small wound on his right wrist, a mark that was absent from his last public appearance made on April 11
UPDATED MAY 3, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

During his appearance on May 1 at a fertilizer plant in North Korea, after 20 days of the world speculating his death, leader Kim Jong Un seemed to be sporting a needle mark on his wrist, confirming reports of having undergone heart surgery. 

Video footage of the North Korean dictator's visit to the factory in Suncheon, obtained by The Sun, showed a small wound on his right wrist - a mark that was absent from his last public appearance made on April 11.

An unnamed health expert told Japanese media outlet Shukan Gendai that Kim was rushed to a nearby hospital after he clutched his chest and fell to the ground on a visit to the countryside earlier this month. A CPR was performed on the leader while he was being transported to the medical facility. 

It is believed that the 36-year-old underwent a stent procedure, wherein a tube is placed in a congested blood vessel to allow blood to keep flowing to the heart. The procedure is believed to have been successful. Seoul-based website Daily NK reported earlier this week citing an unnamed source in North Korea, adding that Kim was recovering after undergoing the procedure on April 12. 

NK News, a US-funded outlet known reliably reporting on the isolated nation, recently identified the mark on Kim's wrist as being consistent with a wound related to a “cardiovascular procedure”.

In addition, the leader who is known to battle with weight issues was seen riding an electric cart around the factory. The cart might have nothing to do with his recent surgery because he also rode it back in January while he was visiting the particular site. In fact, Kim used a similar cart in 2014 when he disappeared from the public scene for 40 days following reported ankle or leg surgery and reemerged using a walking stick. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves as he prepares to leave Vietnam by train after a two-day official visit preceded by the DPRK-USA Hanoi summit, on March 2, 2019, in Dong Dang, Vietnam (Getty Images)

The leader shut down rumors of him being gravely ill or dead by appearing at the fertilizer plant, alongside his sister Kim Yo-jong, who was being pegged as his successor on the occasion that his untimely demise was confirmed by the state media of North Korea. 
 
When he failed to make an appearance for the country's most important holiday which honors the founder of the nation, Kim II Sung, on April 15, rumors started flying over Jung Un's worsening health conditions. Meanwhile, the hashtag 'KimJongUnDead' started trending on Twitter without any proof of the leader passing away. 

A military veterans-run news website in the US, We Are The Mighty, reported that a senior executive of a Beijing-backed satellite TV station in China has said that Kim is dead. Kim also ended up missing the 88th anniversary of their armed forces, the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, on April 25.  

Last week, China reportedly sent medical experts to North Korea to check on the leader's health. When Trump was asked last month about Kim's deteriorating condition, he said, "I think the report was incorrect, let me just put it that way. I hear the report was an incorrect report. I hope it was an incorrect report," without providing further details.

Then, on Friday, May 1, when he was asked about his North Korean counterpart's health update, Trump said, “Kim Jong Un? I can’t tell you exactly. Yes, I do have a very good idea, but I can’t talk about it now. I just wish him well.”

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