The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has appeared in public for the first time in almost three weeks, according to state media, following speculation that he had been seriously ill following heart surgery. The authenticity of the images, taken at a fertiliser factory opening and published on the website of the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, could not be immediately verified
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Kim Jong-un reappears in North Korea after weeks of speculation – reports
North Korean state media has released pictures purportedly showing the leader attending the opening of a fertiliser factory
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has appeared in public for the first time in almost three weeks, according to state media, following speculation that he had been seriously ill following heart surgery.
The state news agency KCNA released photographs purportedly showing Kim opening a fertilizer plant in Sunchon, north of the capital Pyongyang.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un could be sheltering from Covid-19 pandemic, say US and Seoul
Despite North Korean leader’s absence from key events, experts in the South say he is most probably at resort town of Wonsan
Kim Jong-un is not ill and could be sheltering from the coronavirus pandemic, according to South Korean and US officials, in the latest possible explanation for the North Korean leader’s recent absence from public life.
North Korea insists it has yet to identify a single case of Covid-19, despite sharing a border with China, where the outbreak is believed to have started.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un is ‘alive and well’, says South Korea’s security adviser
Moon Chung-in quashes health rumours, saying North Korean leader has been in Wonsan – a resort town in the country’s east – since 13 April
South Korea has said that Kim Jong-un, is “alive and well”, downplaying rumours that that the North Korean leader was seriously ill after undergoing heart surgery.
“Our government position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, a special adviser on national security to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “Kim Jong-un is alive and well.”
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un’s train possibly spotted at North Korean resort
As rumours persist that ruler is in poor health, satellite images emerge showing train parked at Wonsan’s ‘leadership station’
A special train possibly belonging to the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, has been spotted at a resort town, according to satellite images reviewed by a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, amid conflicting reports about Kim’s health and whereabouts.
The monitoring project, 38 North, said in its report on Saturday that the train was parked at the “leadership station” in Wonsan on 21 April and 23 April. The station is reserved for the use of the Kim family, it said.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un: China sends doctors to check on health – report
Speculation continues about dictator’s condition after reports of heart surgery and absence from important events
China has sent a team to North Korea including medical experts to check on Kim Jong-un, according to three people familiar with the situation.
The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean ruler. It was not immediately clear what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Kim’s health.
Continue reading...North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has heart surgery – report
Speculation about health builds after Kim misses key event honouring country’s founder, Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-un underwent heart surgery earlier this month and is recovering at his private villa, according to a South Korean report, with US media citing officials as saying the North Korean leader was in “grave danger” after the procedure.
If accurate, the surgery claim, made by the Daily NK website, would explain Kim’s absence from an event to mark the anniversary of the birth of his grandfather – and the country’s founder – Kim Il-sung.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un’s sister returns to key role in North Korean reshuffle
Kim Yo-jong reinstated to position she lost last year after collapse of US summit
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful younger sister has been reinstated to a key decision-making body, state media have reported, marking her rise in the isolated nation.
Long one of her brother’s closest advisers, Kim Yo-jong was reappointed an alternate member of the political bureau of the central committee in a reshuffle of top officials on Saturday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
Continue reading...North Korea fires projectiles into sea for third time in a month
Suspected short-range missile launches come as Pyongyang announces legislature to meet in April amid coronavirus pandemic
North Korea fired two projectiles that appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, South Korea’s military reported.
The launch on Saturday follows two earlier this month, when North Korea fired short-range missiles and multiple projectiles, according to South Korea’s military, drawing US and Chinese appeals for Pyongyang to return to talks on ending its nuclear and missile programmes.
Continue reading...North Korea fires projectiles into sea for second week running
South Korean military says three projectiles were launched on Monday, following launch of two short-range missiles on 2 March
North Korea has fired three unidentified projectiles off its eastern coast a week after firing two short-range missiles, South Korea’s military said.
The projectiles were launched on Monday from the coastal town of Sondok, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The town hosts a military airfield and North Korea fired missiles from the area last year.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un sister condemns ‘frightened dog’ South Korea in first public statement
Kim Yo-jong likens South Korea to ‘frightened dog barking’ after Seoul protested against Pyongyang’s live-fire military frill
The sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has condemned South Korea as a “frightened dog barking” after Seoul protested against a live-fire military exercise by the North.
Kim Yo-jong’s comments – her first known official statement – came after Seoul’s security ministers expressed “strong concern” over Pyongyang’s firing of two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday – its first weapons test for more than three months.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un signals North Korea could resume nuclear missile tests
Trump says he trusts leader to refrain from testing, despite Kim’s criticism of Washington’s ‘gangster-like demands’
Kim Jong-un has signalled that North Korea will lift its moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests in a move likely to anger Donald Trump.
The North Korean leader told a four-day meeting of party officials in Pyongyang that the test ban, which Kim agreed to in talks with the US president, was no longer needed, state media said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...North Korea claims successful ‘crucial test’ at long-range rocket site
Pyongyang continues to pressurise Trump administration for concessions
North Korea has said it successfully performed another “crucial test” at its long-range rocket launch site that it claims will further strengthen its nuclear deterrent.
The test may have included technologies to improve intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) which could potentially reach the continental US.
Continue reading...Trump: Kim Jong-un risks losing everything if he acts ‘in a hostile way’
- North Korea claims test success at rocket launch site
- Pyongyang threatens return to Trump ‘dotard’ insults
Donald Trump said on Sunday North Korean leader Kim Jong-un risks losing “everything” and his country must denuclearize, after the North said it had carried out a “successful test of great significance”.
“Kim Jong-un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore,” Trump said on Twitter, referring to his first summit with Kim in 2018.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un rides to sacred peak on white horse – in pictures
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, rode a white horse up a sacred mountain on his second symbolic visit to the site in less than two months. Photos showed Kim, his wife and top lieutenants, on horseback as they travelled to snow-covered Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean peninsula
Continue reading...Trump chides Kim Jong-un for calling Joe Biden a ‘rabid dog’ that should be killed
US president says potential Democratic rival is ‘somewhat better than that’ and urges North Korean leader to agree nuclear deal
Donald Trump has come to the defence of one of his potential rivals for the presidency, telling North Korea its recent description of Joe Biden as a “rabid dog” that should be “beaten to death” was a little unfair.
Trump’s criticism of Pyongyang – albeit via a half-hearted endorsement of Biden’s character – came amid attempts to resurrect stalled nuclear talks, with Trump imploring North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, to “get the deal done”, and the US and South Korea agreeing to postpone an annual air force drill the North routinely condemns as a rehearsal for an invasion.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un orders razing of South’s ‘unpleasant’ Mount Kumgang buildings
North Korean ruler demands makeover of joint resort, saying South Korean facilities are like ‘temporary buildings at construction sites’
Kim Jong-un has ordered the demolition of “unpleasant-looking” South Korean facilities at the Mount Kumgang resort – a rare symbol of inter-Korean collaboration – and called for them to be replaced with “modern” buildings constructed by the North.
The North’s ruler said it was a “mistake” for the resort, on the east coast, to be regarded as the common property of two Koreas given its location on North Korean soil, according to the state news agency KCNA.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un jockeys for attention with horse ride up sacred mountain
North Korean leader’s heavily publicised trip up Mount Paektu on white horse could be sign of a big decision
Kim Jong-un is planning “a great operation to strike the world with wonder”, North Korean state media has said, after he found inspiration during a heavily publicised horse ride to the top of the nation’s most sacred mountain.
In a series of photos released by state news agency KCNA, Kim is seen riding a large white horse through snowy fields and woods on Mount Paektu, the spiritual homeland of the Kim dynasty.
Continue reading...China and North Korea hail ‘immortal and invincible’ friendship
Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un exchange compliments as their countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations
Xi Jinping has promised to promote a “long-term, sound and stable” relationship with North Korea as the two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations.
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, also sent a message to the Chinese president, saying their countries’ “invincible friendship will be immortal on the road of accomplishing the cause of socialism,” said Pyongyang’s state news agency KCNA on Sunday.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un invites Donald Trump to visit Pyongyang – report
Letter from North Korean leader comes as talks between the men have stalled
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited US president Donald Trump to visit Pyongyang in a letter sent in August, a South Korean newspaper reported on Monday, citing diplomatic sources.
The letter pre-dates North Korea’s latest launch of short-range projectiles a week ago and is the second Trump received from Kim last month amid stalled denuclearisation talks between the two countries,
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