Kim Jong-un’s health issues are reportedly due to stress and alcohol consumption. According to the Daily NK, his whereabouts are still unclear but that he “had something wrong health-wise due to either excessive drinking or overwork.” The outlet does clarify that they don’t exactly know every detail but that “he may have retired to his villa in Wonsan to rest.”
Since it was reported that Kim was suffering from health problems, North Korean state media claimed that he made his first public appearance since April 11 by attending a May Day ceremony to open a fertilizer factory in the city of Sunchon. This immediately prompted President Donald Trump to tweet, “I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” However, four days later, he missed an event marking the birth of his grandfather, North Korea’s founder Kim II-sung, which caused a stir among onlookers on an international level about his health.
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Rumors began to spread after that. Some stated that Kim underwent a cardiovascular procedure, while others reported he was brain dead or even deceased. However, at the end of April, Trump said that he had a “very good idea” about Kim’s health but added that he couldn’t say much. “I just wish him well… I hope he’s fine,” he said. “I do know how he’s doing, relatively speaking. We will see. You will probably be hearing in the not-too-distant future.”
Kim’s health has raised concern about whether he’ll be able to fulfill his duties as a leader. “Therefore, he must have felt that economic issues should be left to the experts, Prime Minister Kim Jae Ryong and Vice Chairman Park Pong Ju,” contributor Chung Chang Yeol wrote. There is now speculation that states Kim may have sought to keep the United States and South Korea “off balance” by requesting others to send diplomatic telegraphs or deliver birthday gifts in his name. “This kind of behavior fully utilizes the closed and isolated nature of North Korea and, so far, it has been considerably successful,” a report reads. “This is all, of course, mere speculation.”
It’s been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride for everyone trying to figure out the actual state of Kim’s health. After it was reported that he was in “grave danger” MSNBC anchor Katy Tur reported that two US officials (one current and one former) told her that the dictator was “brain dead.” He was alleged to be in a coma after a complication of some kind due to cardiac surgery, but then she quickly retracted her statement by saying “out of an abundance of caution” she deleted the original tweet and went on to explain that she’s “waiting for more info.”
