Unification Minister Warns of “Fake News”

The South Korean government is trying to get maximum political benefit from everyone pronouncing Kim Jong-un as dead:

 The recent brouhaha surrounding the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un showed how “fake news” can affect the economy, such as stock and financial markets, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Thursday.

Speculative reports about Kim’s health spread wildly after he failed to show up at a key national event last month. CNN reported Kim could be in “grave danger after surgery” while some other media outlets went as far as saying that he was believed to be in a coma or already dead.

South Korean officials, including the unification minister, repeatedly rejected such rumors as fake news, but speculation persisted until Kim appeared in public last week, smiling broadly and showing no signs of illness.

“We’ve witnessed the effect fake news has on the stock and financial markets,” the minister said during a press briefing.

“When analyzing intelligence, we cannot but take into consideration the effect it can have on the political situation and how it can actually affect the economy. What’s more important is to take responsibility in handling intelligence,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but just because the so called North Korea experts the media turns to was wrong about Kim Jong-un doesn’t mean every expert critical of anything the Moon administration does is wrong as well.