Dispelling rumors that Kim Jong Un is dead, North Korean media presents a letter from its leader

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• North Korea state-owned media company reported that Kim Jong Un is alive after a handwritten letter from the supreme leader has surfaced.
• Rumors about the hermit kingdom’s ruler came about when he was not able to attend his late grandfather’s birthday memorial on April 15. 
• Some reports said that Kim was severely injured during a missile-firing activity, some reports say he is in a ‘vegetative state’ after a heart surgery while some believed he went hiding because of COVID-19 threats.       

With many stories circulating about North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, a media company run by the state tried to dispute the claims that the ruler is already dead by reporting that he has given the seaside resort builders a letter of thanks.

The outlet, Rodong Sinmun, reported on Monday that Kim wrote a message himself to appreciate the people working on a tourism development project in Wonsan-Kalma.

“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.

According to Yonhap News Agency from South Korea, they think that Kim has been staying at Wonsan since April 13. Yonhap also said the Korean Central Broadcasting Station also reported the same.

The news site reported that while Kim’s train’s current location does not necessarily tell anything about the health situation of the North Korean dictator, it does, somehow, indicate that some stories are true that Kim is currently staying at the eastern coast of the nation.

Speculations about Kim’s health surfaced following his absence at the 108th birthday celebration of his grandfather Kim Il Sung on April 15.  Sung was the founder of the hermit kingdom in East Asia.

According to the Mirror, other unsubstantiated news also circulated, saying that Kim has been hurt during missile firing test, or that the leader went into isolation after some of his aides were infected with the coronavirus.

Mirror first came about the report that his bodyguards are positive with COVID-19 when an anonymous source from China told JoongAng Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, that it was the reason  Kim did not attend his late grandfather’s birthday bash.

The outlet also said that another South Korean news company, Dong-A Ilbo, cited an unidentified U.S. official reporting that Kim headed to Wonsan to escape the coronavirus spread.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special security adviser, Moon Chung-in,  commented to Fox News on Sunday that Kim is healthy and alive.

The North Korean leader had his last public appearance during a meeting with the ruling Workers’ Party to had a briefing about the coronavirus crisis on April 11.

Unverified reports said he is to go through a heart surgery the day after.

U.S President Donald Trump, when asked by reporters on his daily presser, said that reports about the declining health of Kim are ‘fake news.’

Source: New York Post