CNN South Korea says North Korea's Kim Jong Un is 'alive and well' despite mounting speculation

[malaise]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/south-korea-says-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-is-alive-and-well-despite-mounting-speculation/ar-BB13ejc0?li=AAggNb9
<snip>
South Korea continued to pour water on mounting speculation about the health of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, telling CNN he is "alive and well."

"Our government position is firm," Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told CNN. "Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected."

Questions were raised about Kim's well-being after he missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15. He had been seen four days before that at a politburo meeting, according to North Korean state media, KCNA.

CNN reported earlier in the week that the United States is monitoring intelligence that Kim is "in grave danger after a surgery," according to a US official. Another US official told CNN Monday that the concerns about Kim's health are credible, but their severity is hard to assess.

[countingbluecars]

1. Why do I keep thinking

Weekend at Bernies?

[gordianot]

3. It will take quite some time to sort out a successor if one is needed.

When a cult leader of this stature dies there are a lot of loose ends to clean up not to mention the hysteria of Kim dependents.

[sfstaxprep]

2. We're Teaching Them How To LIE Quite Well

Whatever. I choose to believe TMZ over them. Sad, I admit, but true.

[FM123]

4. Just my opinion, but one would think that if he was indeed "alive and well"

NK would put out some kind of photo to shut down all the rumors. When Crazy Kim's father died years ago, the news was not made public right away either - maybe they are just taking this time to get their ducks in a row before his sister Lil Kim is installed in power.

[soryang]

5. This story is based on the Donga.com report that imagery and electronic intel analysis concluded

Kim Jong-un was observed at his Wonsan pad walking without assistance during the period from Apr 15 from Apr 20. I think imagery with a 7 to 10 centimeter resolution could easily identify Kim and his entourage at the facility. If there were any doubts they could potentially be dispelled by elint confirmation of related security movements and communications data. This is exactly what the Donga report implies. I heard a South Korean expert on North Korea two days ago on a mainstream South Korean news broadcast confirm this view when he said it was a crucial judgement for the Blue House to determine that the need to assure the public was greater than the need to preserve secrecy concerning technical capabilities. My feeling is that the US government doesn't want to reveal this because of Trump's twitter blunder concerning a failed Iranian missile launch Aug 31, 2019, in which he publicized confidential satellite imagery to the public.

The source as reported in Donga reports was the US, as related by two South Korean government sources. The information was related to Donga media in an exclusive by 2 unnamed officials from the Ministry of Defense and the South Korean administration. This has been reported in South Korea for over three days now.

According to JTBC News today an unnamed source from the Chinese International Lisason office told them directly today that their team had gone to North Korea to advise Kim concerning coronavirus concerns by the North Korean government.