North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is ‘alive and well’, a South Korean official has said.
The aide said Kim had been living in the Wonsan area of the country since April 13, adding to Fox: ‘No suspicious movements have so far been detected.’
Foreign policy adviser Chung-in Moon said the South Korea n government’s position is firmly that the despot is not dead
Kim has not been seen publicly since April 11, when he led a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party committee of policy makers according to North Korean state media.
The vice director of Hong Kong Satellite Television (HKSTV) Shijian Xingzou had claimed a ‘very solid source’ told her Kim, 36, was dead.
She has 15 million followers on Chinese social media Weibo, and is also the niece of one of the country’s foreign ministers.
Separately, a Japanese media outlet claimed Kim was in a ‘vegetative state’ after he underwent heart surgery earlier in the month.
The dictator’s 250-metre-long train has been seen near his Wonsan holiday complex on satellite images as recently as April 23, according to news website 38North.
It was parked at a station reserved for the Kim family. The website said although the dictator’s whereabouts remain unknown, the trains position suggests he has visited the resort.
The most recent photos, from April 23, show the train preparing for departure.
Kim’s private jet, frequently used for trips to Wonsan, remains on the runway in Pyongyang, South Korean broadcaster SBS reported.
The Wonsan complex includes nine large guesthouses and recreation centre, as well as a shooting range and covered dock believed to be for a yacht.
At the centre of the grounds is a large building that was constructed shortly after Kim Jong Un came to power in 2014.
North Korea has never announced who would succeed Kim in the event of his death but analysts believe his sister Kim Yo-Jong would likely take over until his children grown up.
However, a 250-metre-long train belonging to the dictator has been spotted near to his Wonsan holiday compound as recently as Thursday in satellite photos.
Satellite images of Wonsan Elite railway station show the leader’s train arriving after April 15, and was still at the station on April 23
Kim Jong Un’s private jet, pictured above in North Korea in 2014, has remained on the tarmac in Pyongyang. It is frequently used for trips to the Wonsan resort, Asian media said
