The Kim Jong Un news that says he was incapacitated after a heart surgery is incorrect, according to US President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Trump emphasized that reports suggesting Kim Jong Un was not functioning properly after his cardiovascular surgery were incorrect.
“I think the report was incorrect, let me just put it that way,” Trump said when reporters asked him about Kim Jong Un’s condition.
“I hope it was an incorrect report,” he added, without providing further details.
“I’ve had a very good relationship with him. I wouldn’t -- I can only say this, I wish him well, because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that’s a very serious condition, as you know,” Trump said at a White House press briefing on Tuesday. “But I wish him well.”
Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security advisor, said during a Fox News interview that the US is monitoring Kim’s status.
“We’re monitoring these reports very closely,” he said. “As you know, North Korea is a very closed society.”
Trump met Kim Jong Un for the first time in Singapore in 2018. They discussed the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The two leaders led a second round of talks in Vietnam in February 2019. However, negotiations did not push through after Trump reportedly gave Kim a note asking that he turn over the North’s nuclear weapons and bomb fuel.
In December, Kim Jong Un said he would continue developing his country’s nuclear deterrent and introduce a new strategic weapon in the near future, according to the North’s state-run media KCNA.
Cardiovascular procedure
Kim’s health stirred curiosity because of his absence from the April 15 anniversary birthday celebration of North Korea’s founding father Kim II Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un.
South Korea newspaper Daily NK reported on Monday that Kim on April 12 underwent a cardiovascular procedure at Hyangsan Hospital. The outlet furthered that Kim was recuperating in a villa near the hospital.
Meanwhile, NBC News reported early Tuesday that Kim went through cardiovascular surgery. According to the news outlet, some of American officials said intelligence suggests Kim is not functioning well.
“Even North Korea’s Worker’s Party, military or cabinet aren’t showing any special movements such as emergency decree. We believe that Chairman Kim is active as normal as he has been,” the office said.
North Korea considers Kim Jong Un as the “Great Successor” in 2009. He became a four-star general the following year. His father, Kim Jong Il, passed away in 2011. He was around 70 years old when he died. Kim took over when he was around 28 years old.
Under Kim, the reclusive state held its most powerful nuclear test and introduced its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missile to the world. North Korea also threatened to send missiles into the waters near Guam, a US territory.
North Korea remains to be the only nation that tested nuclear weapons this century. Kim has launched more than 100 missiles since 2011. He also held four nuclear weapons tests.
