Life continues as normal in Pyongyang as Kim Jong Un health rumors swirl | NK News

Speaking to NK News on Tuesday, one source in Pyongyang reported that schools had begun reopening after an extended COVID-19 break and that there is “nothing unusual for the time being.” That doesn’t necessarily mean Kim Jong Un isn’t undergoing serious cardiac problems: the general population would normally be guarded from learning any detail about his health status. In light of Tuesday’s rumors, a former U.S. intelligence source confirmed to NK News that the U.S. “is definitely monitoring this,” noting Kim Jong Un’s prior issues with his leg. “Concerning the rumor on North Korean chairman Kim Jong Un’s health irregularities that was reported by some media outlets, we have nothing to confirm,” Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok said. Kim Jong Un last appeared in state media on April 12, guiding a meeting of the ruling party’s Politburo | Photo: KCNASeveral developments during the past week previously raised questions about the North Korean leader’s whereabouts, however. He was also reported that same day to have attended an air force drill at a base north of Pyongyang which NK News determined took place on April 10. On Saturday, NK News saw a Korean-text rumor which was circulating in Seoul that suggested Kim Jong Un was “brain dead” after a botched surgery. At the time, NK News was unable to corroborate the reports and found no evidence in satellite imagery of private jets arriving that day at Pyongyang’s Sunan airport. Despite North Korea imposing a total suspension of international flights in early February to fight Coronavirus, one smaller aircraft was missing from the apron that day, satellite images taken on dates around it showed. “First of all, we have to be very careful about all these kinds of rumors,” Andrei Lankov, a director of the Korea Risk Group, which owns and operates NK News , said.