Lindsey Graham says he'd be 'shocked' if Kim Jong-un is not dead: 'You don't let rumors like this go on forever'
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, on Saturday, April 25, weighed in on reports of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's reported death, saying he would be "shocked" if the dictator was not "dead or incapacitated".
The senator said that the rumors of the Pyongyang leader's death in such a tightly controlled state as North Korea would not be allowed to go "unanswered" if there was no truth in it.
The Republican makes regular comments on North Korea to the US media.
"Well, it's a closed society, I don't know anything directly," Graham said while talking to Fox News on Saturday night. "But I'd be shocked if he's not dead or in some incapacitated state because you don't let rumors like this go forever or go unanswered in a closed society, which is really a cult, not a country, called North Korea. So I pretty well believe he is dead or incapacitated," the Republican said, fuelling the speculation surrounding Kim's death.
"And I hope the long-suffering North Korean people will get some relief if he is dead, and President Trump's willing to do business with North Korea in a win-win fashion," Graham continued. "So, if this guy is dead, I hope the next person who takes over will work with President Trump to make North Korea a better place for everybody."
The latest reports of Kim's ill health or possible death emerged after a South Korean outlet, Daily NK, claimed that Kim had undergone a cardiovascular system procedure in North Pyongyang on April 12 because of "excessive smoking, obesity and overworking". US media, a week later, reportedly received a tip from an intelligence official that the dictator was indeed in a critical condition.
Kim's health came under scrutiny after he gave a miss to an annual visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun for the 108th birthday of his late grandfather, state founder Kim Il-sung, last week, on April 15.
The North Korean state media's silence over their leader's health or whereabouts has also appeared as something unusual, A former North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain who defected to South Korea in 2016, Thae Yong-ho, told the outlet that it was unusual for the Pyongyang state media to remain silent considering it has been quick to dispel questions about the status of its leadership in the past.
An official with the Ministry of Unification in South Korea on Thursday, April 24, said that the absence of his recent pictures from state media was unusual but more time was needed to see what is going on.
"It is unusual that Kim did not attend the tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, but we need more time to see what is going on," the official said. "When there were rumors that Kim Il-sung had been shot in 1986, North Korea showed images of him on state media instead of directly responding to the speculations. North Korea has never made an official response to such rumors on the death of its leader."
Kim was last seen in public on April 11, when he led a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party committee of policymakers, according to North Korean state media.