In an apparent effort to dispel rumors about Kim Jong Un’s well-being, North Korean state media on Monday (April 27) released a letter from the reclusive leader in which he congratulated South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Freedom Day.
The Korea Central News Agency reported that the letter was dated April 27, 2020 but there is no way to confirm its authenticity.
In his letter to Ramaphosa, the North Korean leader had expressed confidence that the friendship between Pyongyang and Cape Town would grow in the future.
The publication of Kim’s letter comes at a time when another state-run media outlet, the Rodong Sinmun paper, claimed that the North Korean leader wrote a letter to builders working on a tourism project in Wonsan, where he is believed to be living since April 13, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
Though the suspense is rising over Kim Jong Un’s health, South Korea has repeatedly maintained that the reclusive leader is “alive and well.”
“Our government position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told CNN. “Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected,” added Moon.
Questions over Kim’s well-being were raised on April 15 after he failed to attend the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday. Kim was last seen on April 11 at a politburo meeting.
Few days ago, CNN had reported that the US is closely monitoring intelligence that Kim is “in grave danger after a surgery.” A senior US official told CNN on Monday that the concerns about Kim’s health are credible, but they are yet to confirm their severity.
