North Korea Defector Says Kim Jong-un 'Not Dying Anytime Soon' Despite Health Rumors

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un isn't "dying anytime soon" and has tightened his iron grip on the country during rumors about his declining health.

Reading the tea leaves to divine the true state of affairs in North Korea has produced another interpretation of events dating back to early April when stubborn rumors insisted Kim Jong-un had either died or was near death, and had likely purged his younger sister and successor-to-be, Kim Yo-jong..

North Korean defector Yeonmi Park asserts Kim isn’t dead and isn’t going anywhere despite rumors to the contrary. The supreme leader 's recent low profile is the result of him hiding from the COVID-19 pandemic, not a grave illness.

“I still have contacts in North Korea and people in North Korea giving me information,” she told the New York Post. “We can agree that Kim Yo-jong is not taking over North Korea and I don’t think that is in her interest. Kim Jong-un is very much in power and he’s not dying anytime soon."

Park asserts that if Kim Jong-un thought his 34 year-old younger sister were a real threat, he would have had her killed by now. Kim had his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, and his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, murdered when he considered them serious threats to his dictatorial rule.

The fact that Kim Yo-jong remains alive is proof her brother doesn't see her as a grave threat, Park said. However, Park believes Kim might have purged his younger sister, hence her conspicuous absence from the public eye over the past few weeks.

Purging his sister, who he promoted to a higher ranking position in the Korean Workers' Party, intends to send the message, "He’s not anywhere near to being replaced," claims Park.

She also pointed out that if Kim were indeed in bad health, as rumors over the past four months claim, he would have announced his sister as his successor. That Kim hasn't done so proves he retains his grip on power, Park said.

As for why Kim has been making himself scarce in public, Park said Kim is merely hiding from COVID-19 in one of his many palatial estates throughout the country.

Kim's absence from public view since April 12 triggered rumors of his ill-health or death. One of the more plausible theories as to his disappearance at the time had Kim hiding out at his palace in the northeastern city of Wonsan. Rumors said he was either protecting himself from COVID-19 or was recovering from a botched heart surgery that nearly killed him.

The surgery was rumored to have caused Kim to be hurled into a vegetative state. Other theories claimed Kim was brain dead as a result of the heart surgery gone wrong.