Wednesday 21 / May / 2025
Utter silence from the authorities in Pyongyang is fueling speculation surrounding the well-being of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator.
Media reports citing sources in the intelligence and defector communities have suggested that the 37-year-old Kim has undergone heart surgery and is in "critical" condition, although the government in South Korea has been quick to play down the claims by pointing out that life appears to be continuing normal in the North.
Yet the failure of the regime in Pyongyang to dismiss the reports as groundless rumor — as they typically tend to do when the rule of the supreme leader is in question — is stoking the uncertainty.
The first report that Kim was being treated for a heart complaint came on Monday, when the Seoul-based online media reported that Kim had been admitted to the Hyangsan Medical Center, a state-of-the-art hospital set aside for members of the ruling Kim clan in North Pyongan province. Citing a source within the North, the online news portal said Kim is now convalescing at a nearby villa.
The reports indicated that Kim was responding well to the treatment but was still being monitored by medical staff.
'Critically ill' claim
That claim was contradicted the next morning by a US-based news channel, which claimed that US intelligence had obtained information that Kim was critically ill. "I am a bit skeptical about all the reports and there are some parts that do not add up," said Rah Jong-yil, a former head of the South Korean intelligence department charged with monitoring North Korea.
For Rah, there are questions about why Kim was not treated in Pyongyang and the original source of the reports, although he admits the regime's silence is puzzling.
"It is strange that when CNN reported this news and it became a global story, North Korea did not immediately repudiate or deny the claims," he told DW. "In the past, the North has reacted very quickly when there have been reports about the leadership. That they are completely silent is unusual."
The suggestion that Kim has undergone a significant medical procedure appears to be accurate, and it is not a surprise given the history of poor health that dogs him personally and his family more generally.
A heavy smoker — he is often pictured with a cigarette between his fingers — and visibly overweight, it was reported as early as 2009 that Kim is a diabetic and suffers from hypertension. He failed to attend a series of public events over a period of six weeks from October 2014 and was using a walking stick when he eventually reappeared.
Kim Il Sung, the founder of the North Korean state and Kim Jong Un's grandfather, died in 1994 of a heart attack. His own father — Kim Jong Il — also died of a heart attack in 2011, his physical condition apparently worsened by high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension.
