Kim Jong Un Mystery: China Sends Team of Experts to Advise on North Korean Dictator's Health

The mystery surrounding the health of North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is being delved into by a group of Chinese doctors and officials, but any news of their findings has yet to emerge, say reports.

Reuters reported quoting sources who chose to remain anonymous =that the team was led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department. Reuters was unable to obtain any updates from the Liaison Department as of late Friday.

What is known is that the most recent reports on Kim’s location by the state-run media were on April 11 when he presided over a meeting. It is thought he was absent from the birthday celebration of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, on April 15 because the state media did not report that he was in attendance. The date is an important event for North Korea.

It was reported by the Daily NK, a South Korean news outlet that reports on events in the North, that Kim underwent a cardiovascular procedure on April 12 at the Hyangsan Hospital. This news, from yet another unidentified source, has drawn global attention including that of U.S. President Donald Trump:

• A report that Kim was in “grave danger after surgery” was challenged by South Korean government officials and a Chinese official with the Liaison Department. The South Korean officials said they had detected no signs of unusual activity.
• Trump, in a press briefing Thursday (Aprirl 23), told reporters that he thought the reports on Kim’s condition were incorrect. He did not say if he had been in touch with North Korean officials.
• On Friday, one South Korean source told Reuters that intelligence sources indicated that Kim was alive and would soon make an appearance. The source had no comment on Kim's true condition or of any Chinese involvement.
• One other unnamed source claiming to be familiar with U.S. intelligence commented on Kim’s known health issues but said there was no reason to conclude he was seriously ill. Another =State Department spokeswoman had no comment.
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when asked by Fox News about Kim's health, said, "I don’t have anything I can share with you tonight, but the American people should know we're watching the situation very keenly."

North Korea is likely the world’s most secretive country. That secrecy even extends to Kim’s age, believed to be 36. On at least one occasion, in 2014, he dropped out of sight for over a month and scenes of him walking with a limp were shown on North Korean state TV after he re-emerged.

Speculation will run high because of Kim’s family history of heart problems. His grandfather and father both died from heart attacks when they were 82 and 69 years-old, respectively. Kim is also overweight and is a smoker and that will raise alarms with any cardiologist.

China, as North Korea's chief ally, is the one economic lifeline left for a country hard-hit by UN sanctions. An unstable North Korea is the last thing China needs while it deals with its role in spreading the coronavirus pandemic, a trade war with the U.S., human rights allegations, and growing tensions in the South China Sea over territorial claims.