North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly expressed his gratitude to workers building a tourist zone in the country as rumors about his health circulate worldwide.
“Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has sent his appreciation to the workers who devoted themselves to building the Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone,” Rodong Sinmun, the nation’s main newspaper, said early Monday local time, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. The Korean Central Broadcasting Station carried a similar report, which came amid growing speculation about the dictator’s health.
South Korean officials said hours earlier that Kim is “alive and well” in the Wonsan area after reports broke last week that he is in “grave danger” following a surgery and may even be incapacitated.
The rumors about Kim’s declining health started swirling after he missed an appearance at an April 15 celebration honoring his grandfather. Recent satellite imagery appeared to show the leader’s train parked at a station in “his Wonsan compound since at least April 21.”
“The train’s presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast,” North 38, a Washington-based website specializing in North Korea studies, said Sunday.
American officials are monitoring the situation, and President Trump has indicated that he believes reports that Kim is in failing health are “fake.”
