South Korean Foreign Policy Adviser: “Kim Jong Un Alive and Well”
Matthew T. McDonald
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Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to the President of South Korea Moon Jae-in told American media on Sunday, “Our government position is firm Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wosan area since April 13th. No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”
Questions about Kim’s wellbeing started to surface when he missed the “Day of the Sun” celebration on April 15th which marks the birthday of his grandfather Kim II Sung, the founder and first dictator of Communist North Korea.
In recent days among muddied and unverified news some members of the media reported that Kim was either in a vegetative state or had died from a botched heart operation.
A source in South Korea spoke to Fox News on Sunday morning and argued that the North Korean dictator was probably not dead but is likely experiencing a difficult recovery from surgery.
The South Korean source went on to tell Fox News, “I don’t see how we can go from rumors and speculation to fact and interpretation until the North Koreans themselves decide to share something about his condition.”
He noted that Kim’s record for absence from public view is about forty days. And in fact, speculation about Kim’s health has happened before when a North Korean leader has sought medical treatment, he added.
The time frame between past North Korean leader’s deaths and the announcement of the passing is usually two to three days.
“That window is closing soon,” said the South Korean source.
President Trump remarked on the issue after CNN reported Tuesday that U.S. officials were monitoring intelligence that Kim was “in grave danger” following the procedure.
“Well, these are reports that came out, and we don’t know. We don’t know. I’ve had a very good relationship with him. I wouldn’t — you know, I can only say this — I wish him well. Because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say… that’s a very serious condition.”
On Thursday, the president said he thought the report on Kim’s poor health was “incorrect.”
Kim Jong Un was last seen in public on April 11th.
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