North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s life is reportedly is still in grave danger after he underwent heart surgery recently.
Alarm bells started ringing recently after Kim missed the celebration of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15, largely regarded as the country’s most important holiday.
Daily NK, an online newspaper based in South Korea that focuses on North Korea, reports that Kim reportedly received a cardiovascular system procedure on April 12 because of “excessive smoking, obesity, and overwork.”
According to the report by the news site, the Supreme Leader is now receiving treatment in a villa in Hyangsan County while the medical team that had attended to him returned to Pyongyang on April 19 after making the judgement that his condition had improved.
Only a part of that team remained to oversee his recovery.
“My understanding is that he had been struggling [with heart problems] since last August but it worsened after repeated visits to Mount Paektu,” an anonymous source told Daily NK.
The US, which has been trying to thaw previously frosty relations with the notoriously volatile North Korean leader, confirmed that it was closely monitoring the situation.
“We’re monitoring these reports very closely,” National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said during an interview with Fox News Tuesday. “As you know, North Korea is a very closed society,” he said.
North Korea recently admitted to the existence of COVID-19 cases within its borders. The country closed its borders to prevent the spread of the virus in February.
“In case the infectious disease spreading beyond control finds its way into our country, it will entail serious consequences,” Kim reportedly said at a February meeting with leaders of the Workers’ Party. “No special cases must be allowed within the state anti-epidemic system.”
A US State Department official confirmed on Monday that it had expeditiously facilitated the approval of assistance from U.S. and international aid and health organizations to counter and contain the spread of coronavirus in North Korea.
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