Tag: Kim Jong-un

Here is the latest on the big, boy up North:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has handed over some of his powers to his younger sister Yo-jong, the National Intelligence Service said Thursday. 

Kim Yo-jong now handles any dealings with South Korea and the U.S. affairs but reports back to her brother. She was apparently given authority to blow up the inter-Korean liaison office in June. 

The NIS in a briefing to the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee said the power-sharing arrangement seems aimed at “alleviating leadership strain and dividing responsibility for failed policies.”

Kim Jong-un has been leading the North for nine years and is trying to avoid taking all the blame for his disastrous policies. 

But the NIS believes there are “no problems” with his health. Earlier this year Kim disappeared from view for three weeks, leading to fevered speculation that he was ill.

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest headline from John Bolton’s book:

U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t want South Korean President Moon Jae-in to join him during his third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in June 2019, according to John Bolton, the former U.S. national security adviser, in his memoir.    
   
“The Room Where It Happened,” the Bolton memoir set to be published Tuesday, details the three Kim-Trump meetings and the considerable amount of energy expended by Bolton to thwart any U.S. concessions to North Korea.  
   
In a tweet on June 28, 2019, Trump — who was on an official trip to Japan and Korea — offered to shake hands and say hello with North Korean leader Kim, which led to the impromptu meeting days later on June 30 in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom. This marked the first time a sitting U.S. president stepped onto North Korean soil, and took place during Trump’s visit to Seoul for a summit with Moon.    
   
According to Bolton, “Trump wanted Moon nowhere around, but Moon was determined to be present, making it a trilateral meeting if he could.” Bolton had “entertained the faint hope that this dispute with Moon could tank the whole thing, because it was certain Kim didn’t want Moon around.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Kim Jong-un is feeling much better after having not been seen publicly in three weeks:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over a Central Military Commission meeting and discussed “new policies for further increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country,” state media reported Sunday.

Also discussed at the enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party were important military steps and organizational and political measures to further bolster up the overall armed forces, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

“Set forth at the meeting were new policies for further increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on a high alert operation in line with the general requirements for the building and development of the armed forces of the country,” the KCNA said.

It did not elaborate what the “new policies” for nuclear deterrence were.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the health of Kim Jong-un from ROK intelligence:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears not to have undergone surgery, a presidential official said Sunday, flatly denying speculation over Kim’s health.

“There were media reports speculating about Chairman Kim’s surgery, citing a change in the way he walks,” a senior Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters, saying the presidential office judges this not to be true.

When asked whether the North Korean leader did not even go through a relatively moderate medical procedure, the official replied yes.

The official, who asked not to be named, however, refused to unveil the grounds that this judgment was made upon.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I still think if he had anything done maybe it was a minor surgery such as on his ankle again or maybe they scoped his knee. These are simple surgeries that he would want time to recover from so he is not seen limping around.

As I have been saying, let this play out because these so called experts declaring him dead don’t really know what is going on with something as sensitive as Kim Jong-un’s health:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a fertilizer factory completion ceremony, state media reported Saturday, his first public appearance after 20 days of absence that sparked rumors about his health.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim cut the tape at the ceremony marking the completion of Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang, on Friday.

Photos released by KCNA showed Kim, dressed in a dark Mao suit, cutting the red ribbon during the ceremony and talking to accompanying officials with a smile on his face. They did not show any signs of an illness.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but my speculation was that he may have had some follow up surgery on his bad ankle that limited his mobility. Kim Jong-un is not the type of person that is going to go out and make a public appearance with crutches. According to the report Kim looked healthy and moving around just fine.

I am not sure how anyone can claim to be 99% sure of anything coming out of North Korea, especially something as sensitive as Kim Jong-un’s health:

 A North Korea defector elected as a lawmaker in South Korea claimed Friday that he is “99 percent” sure that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un died after surgery amid speculation over his health.

Unconfirmed reports about Kim’s ill health have mounted since he has not appeared in public for nearly three weeks. News reports described Kim as being in “grave danger” after surgery or hiding out at a coastal resort to escape the coronavirus pandemic.

Ji Seong-ho, who earned a proportional representation seat of a minor party in the April 15 elections, claimed that he is 99 percent sure of Kim’s death and North Korea may make the related announcement this weekend.

“I’ve wondered how long he could have endured after cardiovascular surgery. I’ve been informed that Kim died last weekend,” Ji told Yonhap News Agency.

“It is not 100 percent certain, but I can say the possibility is 99 percent. North Korea is believed to be grappling with a complicated succession issue,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I guess we will see what happens this weekend.

Congratulations to the Korean Unification Minister for creating a new word, “infodemic”:

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Tuesday rejected unconfirmed reports of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s illness as “fake news” and “infodemic,” insisting he can say confidently there have been no unusual signs in the communist state.

Speculation about Kim’s health spiked after he skipped an annual visit to the mausoleum of his grandfather Kim Il-sung on the late national founder’s April 15 birth anniversary, the North’s most important national holiday.

Media reports have since speculated that Kim might be seriously ill, but Seoul officials have disputed the reports, repeatedly saying there are no unusual signs found in North Korea and that Kim is believed to be staying in the country’s eastern coastal town of Wonsan.

“It can be seen as a phenomenon of infodemic,” Minister Kim said during a parliamentary foreign affairs committee meeting, referring to a recent deluge of unfounded rumors about the leader’s heath. “We have intelligence capacity that allows us to say confidently that there are no unusual signs.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The statement mentions nothing about his health, but instead thanks workers building a special tourism area:

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his gratitude to workers building a tourist zone in the east coast region of Wonsan, state media said Monday, amid reports his special train is parked at the area amid persisting speculation about his health.

“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, the North’s main newspaper, said. The Korean Central Broadcasting Station carried a similar report.

Later in the day, the state-run Korean Central News Agency also reported that Kim sent a congratulatory telegram message to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.