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Kim Jong Un rumours.

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Cowley

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Does anyone have any thoughts on the fact that Kim Jong Un has not appeared in public for a while?
There’s been plenty of rumours but nothing concrete yet...
Definitely something to keep an eye on though, as it could potentially end up becoming extremely serious for the whole world with the USA and China both having a major stake in the outcome.


Reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seriously ill after heart surgery are not true, officials in South Korea have said.

Headlines that Kim Jong-un was "gravely ill", "brain-dead" or "recovering from an operation" were always going to be impossible to verify.

But the presidential office in Seoul has said there have been no particular signs from the North to indicate the 36-year-old is "gravely ill".

It is also not the first time rumours about his health have fired up intense flurries of speculation - only to be later dismissed.
 
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scotrail158713

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I heard something about that the other day. It’s certainly something I’m keeping half an eye on now.
 

MotCO

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But if he has just recovered from a heart operation, he would not be seen in public yet awhile.
 

najaB

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But if he has just recovered from a heart operation, he would not be seen in public yet awhile.
In a "normal" country they would have published some footage of him recuperating at the very least. The surgery was supposedly about two weeks ago so he should be able to at least be capable of sitting in a chair long enough for a photo op showing him drinking tea and speaking with his close confidantes/family.
 

Bletchleyite

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In a "normal" country they would have published some footage of him recuperating at the very least. The surgery was supposedly about two weeks ago so he should be able to at least be capable of sitting in a chair long enough for a photo op showing him drinking tea and speaking with his close confidantes/family.

They didn't for Bojo, as a comparison. Indeed, people were already starting to circulate false rumours of his death.
 

Busaholic

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Maybe he's on paternity leave, just as Boris originally said he himself would be - whether he has the brass neck to continue on that path remains to be seen.
 

DynamicSpirit

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The difference there being that there were regular updates on his status.

Updates that - at least in the early stages before he went into intensive care - appeared to be so dishonest that you have to wonder if Boris himself wrote them ;)
 

scotrail158713

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Maybe he's on paternity leave, just as Boris originally said he himself would be - whether he has the brass neck to continue on that path remains to be seen.
Just been mentioned on the news that he’s delaying it for just now
 

LOL The Irony

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But the presidential office in Seoul has said there have been no particular signs from the North to indicate the 36-year-old is "gravely ill".

It is also not the first time rumours about his health have fired up intense flurries of speculation - only to be later dismissed.
Precisely. His "death" is just that, rumours. If any outsiders knows he's dead, it'll most likely be his neighbors from the south.
 

Busaholic

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Late item on BBC News - the prodigal son has reappeared, opening a fertiliser factory. That's what you get for being the world's biggest despot. :lol: Is it worth it, I ask?
 

LOL The Irony

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Late item on BBC News - the prodigal son has reappeared, opening a fertiliser factory. That's what you get for being the world's biggest despot. :lol: Is it worth it, I ask?
Here it is
Kim Jong-un has appeared in public for the first time in 20 days, North Korean state media says.

KCNA news agency reports that the North Korean leader cut the ribbon at the opening of a fertiliser factory.

It adds that people at the factory "broke into thunderous cheers of hurrah" when he appeared.

The reported appearance - his first since an event on state media on 12 April - comes amid global speculation over his health.

The latest reports from North Korean media could not be independently confirmed and no pictures were provided.

Asked about Mr Kim's reported reappearance, US President Donald Trump told reporters that he didn't want to comment yet.

What does the state media report say?
According to Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Mr Kim was accompanied by several senior North Korean officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong.

The North Korean leader cut a ribbon at a ceremony at the plant, in a region north of Pyongyang, and people who were attending the event "burst into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!' for the Supreme Leader who is commanding the all-people general march for accomplishing the great cause of prosperity", KCNA says.

Mr Kim said he was satisfied with the factory's production system, and praised it for contributing to the progress of the country's chemical industry and food production, the state news agency adds.

However, the agency provided no photographs of the event.

What started speculation about his health?
Speculation about Mr Kim's health began after he missed the birth anniversary celebrations of his grandfather, state founder Kim Il Sung on 15 April.

The anniversary is one of the biggest events in the North Korean calendar, and Mr Kim usually marks it by visiting the mausoleum where his grandfather lies. Mr Kim had never missed this event.

Claims about Mr Kim's ill-health then surfaced in a report for a website run by North Korean defectors.

An anonymous source told the Daily NK that they understood he had been struggling with cardiovascular problems since last August "but it worsened after repeated visits to Mount Paektu".

This led to a chain of reporting by international media on a single-sourced story.

News agencies then began to run with that claim, and it was all they had until some reports emerged that intelligence agencies in South Korea and the US were monitoring the claim.

But then came a more sensational headline in US media that the North Korean leader was in a critical condition after heart surgery.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to stoke the rumours on 29 April, by saying US officials "hadn't seen" Mr Kim recently.

However, a statement from the South Korean government, and sources at Chinese intelligence - speaking to the Reuters news agency - said this was not true.

Has Kim Jong-un disappeared before?
Yes. Mr Kim went missing for 40 days in September 2014, after attending a concert. He reappeared in mid-October, using a cane.

State media never explained where he had been. But South Korea's intelligence agency said he probably had an operation on his left ankle stemming from problems with a cyst.
 
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