MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: The Kremlin has no information if media rumors about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s health have anything to do with the reality, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Tuesday.
"We’ve seen the media reports. We have no idea to what extent these reports agree with the reality. We are waiting for official information," Peskov said.
Earlier the television network CNN quoted a source in the US administration as saying the United States was studying intelligence reports the North Korean leader was experiencing health problems after an alleged surgery. No confirmation was provided. The South Korean authorities said they had no information indicating that Kim might have health problems. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, too, doubts the accuracy of information from the CNN source.
On April 16, the Korean Central News Agency said Kim one day earlier was for the first time in many years absent from a special ceremony on the occasion of the 108th anniversary of the birth of his grandfather and founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public since April 11, when he chaired a meeting of the Politbureau of the Workers’ Party of Korea on foreign policy matters.
