President Trump tweeted that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is healthy a day after veteran journalist Bob Woodward unveiled details about their relationship.
“Kim Jong Un is in good health. Never underestimate him!” Trump said in a Thursday morning tweet. He provided no other details.
Kim Jong Un is in good health. Never underestimate him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2020
It is unclear what exactly prompted the president to speak out about the well-being of North Korea’s dictator, but Woodward’s book Rage, set to be released later this month, includes segments of letters that Kim sent Trump. In the missives, details of which were published on Wednesday, Kim uses flowery language to talk about his relationship with the president, including referring to him as “Your Excellency.”
“I feel pleased to have formed good ties with such a powerful and preeminent statesman as Your Excellency,” Kim said in another letter. In another, Kim waxed poetic about “that moment of history when I firmly held Your Excellency’s hand at the beautiful and sacred location as the whole world watched with great interest and hope to relive the honor of that day.”
There have been some rumors about Kim’s health and who is leading the hermit nation. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service briefed lawmakers in South Korea last month about how Kim still maintains “absolute authority” over his country, but his sister Kim Yo Jong has been given more authority.
“Chairman Kim Jong Un is still maintaining his absolute authority, but some of it has been handed over, little by little,” the agency added, according to Yonhap News Agency.
In April, reports swirled that Kim was in “grave danger” and that the Chinese Communist Party had sent a team of doctors to treat the despot. U.S. officials at the time started making contingency plans for how the country will respond to a new leader. Kim eventually reappeared after an extended absence from the public eye.
