Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed the United States had not seen North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid speculation his health is in poor condition.
With Kim’s recent absence from public life in North Korea, there have been contradictory reports alleging the dictator is in “grave danger” following heart surgery, could be in a vegetative state, or that he’s simply trying to avoid contracting the coronavirus.
In a Wednesday morning interview on Fox & Friends, the secretary of state acknowledged that “we haven’t seen him. We don’t have any information to report today, we’re watching it closely.”
“There is a real risk that there will be a famine, a food shortage, inside of North Korea, too,” Pompeo added. “We’re watching each of those things closely, as they have a real impact on our mission set, which is to ultimately denuclearize North Korea.”
The Japanese magazine Shukan Gendai last weekend reported that a member of a Chinese team of experts that was dispatched to North Korea said Kim collapsed after grasping his chest and fell into a vegetative state following surgery.
Kim was absent from the public last Friday while the country’s state-run media marked the 88th anniversary of its armed forces. He was also conspicuously absent from the hermit nation’s most important national holiday, his grandfather Kim Il Sung’s birthday. Sung founded the Kim dynasty with Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, becoming leader after the death of Kim Il Sung.
President Trump addressed the current leader’s unknown status during a briefing on Tuesday.
“I can’t tell you exactly. Yes, I do have a very good idea, but I can’t talk about it now,” the president said. “I just wish him well. I’ve had a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un.”
