Kim ‘alive and well’

Sources dismiss talk North Korean leader is in ‘grave danger’

SIGNS of life have emerged from the North Korean presidency after weeks of speculation on the health of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un.

Ever since a South Korean report this month that Kim had to undergo heart surgery – followed by his conspicuous absence from some key events – Korea watchers have wondered about his fate.

There has been speculation he is sick or even dead.

But North Korean state media carried comments from the leader on Sunday in which he expressed his appreciation to workers who had built houses in the northern city of Samjiyon, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

But Yonhap also noted the North Korean report did not disclose Kim’s location or include any images.

Meanwhile, a foreign affairs adviser to the South Korean president Moon Chung appeared on Fox News to say Kim is alive and well.

He said Kim is in Wonsan, a city that has a compound where the North Korean leader regularly stays.

However, none of that information was verified out of North Korea.

Nonetheless, Moon’s information about Wonsan would tally with a weekend report from the North Korean monitoring website 38 North, which showed a train believed to belong to Kim parked in the city.

The website’s report on Saturday comes amid speculation about Kim’s ill health, after he missed public events, including his late grandfather’s birthday ceremony on April 15.

Broadcaster CNN reported recently the US was looking into intelligence Kim was in “grave danger” following surgery, however this was later denied by President Donald Trump.

South Korean officials in Seoul also disputed the reports, saying that there have been no unusual signs from the North and Kim is presumed to be staying in Wonsan for unspecified reasons.