South Korean minister calls unconfirmed CNN report on Kim Jong-un's deteriorating health 'fake and infodemic'
The speculation over the health conditions of North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has intensified over the past few weeks after some serious media reports came out. While the South Korea-based Daily NK triggered the suspicion by reporting that Kim underwent a heart procedure on April 12 and that explained why he was absent at the birth anniversary celebration of his grandfather Kim Il-sung, a CNN report said the 36-year-old leader is in “grave danger” after the surgery.
South Korea has now called those reports as “fake news” and “infodemic”. The country’s Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, besides objecting to those news reports, said Seoul is “confident” that there are no unusual signs over the North Korean dictator’s health, according to its state-run Yonhap news agency.
“It can be seen as a phenomenon of infodemic. We have intelligence capacity that allows us to say confidently that there are no unusual signs,” the South Korean minister said at a parliamentary foreign affairs committee meeting, referring to the series of reports that have surfaced over Kim Jong-un’s health.
South Korea says Kim is avoiding gatherings due to COVID-19
Kim Yeon-chul also added that while it is true that Kim has not missed the birth anniversaries of his grandfather, also the founder of the country, since he took over in December 2011, it also needs to be remembered that many of the events like anniversaries and banquets had been called off because of the global pandemic that has hit more than three million people worldwide.
Minister Kim said Pyongyang appears to be extremely cautious over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The isolated country made the headlines recently over claims that there was no single case reported on its soil though western observers refused to be convinced. The North Korean media has also continued to report on messages that the leader is sending out to workers, military and other sectors almost daily.
The country’s media reportedly published on Monday, April 27, a letter from Kim to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to greet him on the African nation’s Freedom Day.
The South Korean minister took a dig at CNN, saying, “I know that the CNN report is based on the Daily NK report, which said that (Kim) received surgery at the Hyangsan Medical Center. That cannot make sense logically. ... The Hyangsan Medical Center is like a clinic, a facility incapable of performing surgery or medical procedures.” It is rare for a South Korean official to take aim at a media outlet based in the US, one of Seoul’s closest allies.
Kim Yeon-chul found an ally in South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who said no unusual scenes were detected in its northern neighbor.
Recently, a train believed to be Kim's was spotted outside his resort in Wonsan on the country’s east coast, triggering the rumors about his health. China, North Korea’s closest ally in the region, also reportedly sent a medical team to the country to advise on Kim’s health conditions but nothing detailed emerged thereafter.