North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in ’grave danger’ after heart surgery: report

In this Saturday, April 11 photo provided by the North Korean government on Sunday, April 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang.(朝鮮通信社/AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is reportedly in “grave danger” after undergoing treatment for a cardiovascular problem.

A US official with direct knowledge told CNN Monday night that U.S. intelligence is monitoring reports about the condition of the head of the isolated country. Bloomberg reported that Kim underwent heart surgery last week, and U.S. officials did not know if he was alive or dead. The Trump administration is looking into the potential line of succession after Kim, they said.

South Korea’s government-funded Yonhap news agency, however, contradicted those reports, saying that Kim was not seriously ill.

Speculation has run rampant around the 36-year-old Kim’s health in recent days. Reports out of South Korea claim it has deteriorated over the past several months because of his heavy smoking habit, obesity and overwork.

Kim was last seen in public at a government meeting on April 11, but fueled rumors about his condition when he did not make any kind of appearance on April 15. That date, a national holiday in North Korea, celebrates the birth of Kim’s grandfather and the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung.

In some cases, glaring absences from important events signify major developments in North Korea, such as when Kim Jong Il missed the country’s 60th anniversary celebration because of a stroke, which eventually led to his declining health and death in 2011. But other times, not showing up has turned out to mean nothing, and there has been no shortage of false rumors regarding Kim and his family.

North Korea tightly controls all information about Kim, making it a challenge to know the truth about the leader — especially when it comes to his health. Kim commands a cult of personality in his country, and gaining insight about his situation often amounts to scanning state media reports and propaganda videos for clues.

The Ministry of Unification, a department of the South Korean government that aims to unify the two countries, said on Friday that it was “inappropriate” to speculate about Kim’s noticeable absence.

Kim has disappeared from the public eye for health reasons at least once before. Back in 2014, he wasn’t seen for over a month, and when he returned, he was using a cane. South Korea intelligence analysts later deduced that Kim had had a cyst removed from his ankle.

North Korea is currently facing a health crisis on a larger scale than just its leader, as it tries to protect itself against the coronavirus pandemic. The country has quarantined thousands and delayed the school year as precautionary measures, but claims to currently have zero infections. Experts have cast doubt on those claims, however, particularly because North Korea shares a border with China, which is often crossed for smuggling purposes.

Kim took power after his father’s death in December 2011 and is the third generation of his family to rule the nuclear-armed country.

He met President Trump three times in 2018 and 2019 and had summits with other Asian leaders as he pursued diplomacy in hopes of ending crippling sanctions and getting security guarantees. Yet he maintained his right to a nuclear arsenal and most diplomacy has stalemated since.