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South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul addresses the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Apr. 28. (Yonhap News)

On Apr. 28, South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said that churning rumors about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the domestic and foreign press had reached the level of an “infodemic,” a development he described as “very unfortunate.” In the view of the unification minister, reports about Kim Jong-un’s supposed health problems are “fake news.”

Kim Yeon-chul made his remarks before the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Tuesday. “The South Korean government has continued to emphasize that there are no unusual signs inside North Korea,” Kim said.

When lawmakers from both major parties continued to ask questions about the rumors, Kim doubled down. “The South Korean government possesses intelligence that allows me to state with confidence that there are no unusual signs [inside North Korea].”

“There are no major differences between South Korean and US intelligence assessments,” Kim added.

Kim Yeon-chul also rebutted one of the assumptions in the article that unleashed the speculation about Kim’s health, an article that was printed by the Daily NK, a news website focusing on North Korea. According to Kim, Hyangsan Hospital — the hospital where the Daily NK said Kim had undergone heart surgery — “is similar to a community clinic and isn’t a facility where operations or surgeries can be performed.”

The unification minister also addressed Kim Jong-un’s failure to pay his respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the Day of the Sun on Apr. 15, the birth anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-un’s absence at the event, which he’d attended every year since taking power in 2012, has been regarded as major evidence backing the rumors about his health issues.

“This year, banquets and briefings connected with the holiday were canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak. I’m told that there was even a reduction in the size of the group that paid its respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun,” Kim Yeon-chul said. His remarks suggest that Kim Jong-un’s failure to attend the Day of the Sun event could be connected with North Korea’s coronavirus response.

Kim Yeon-chul also commented on the fact that the North Korean media hasn’t covered Kim Jong-un’s public activities for 16 days now, since he presided over a meeting of the politburo of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) on Apr. 11. “This year alone, Kim’s public activities weren’t covered by the media for a period of 21 days and another period of 19 days. The current situation isn’t very unusual,” the unification minister said.

The 21-day period ran from Kim Jong-un’s attendance at a concert for the Lunar New Year on Jan. 25 until his visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the Day of the Shining Star on Feb. 16 (the birth anniversary of his father Kim Jong-il). The 19-day period ran from Kim’s guidance of a gunnery competition on Mar. 21 until his guidance of a mortar firing exercise on Apr. 10.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer, and Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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