North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly received cardiovascular surgery after deteriorating in recent months due to heavy smoking, obesity and overwork
North Korean ‘Supreme leader’ Kim Jong Un is receiving treatment after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure early this month, a report from South Korean media has said, amid speculation over Kim’s health following his absence from a key anniversary event honouring his grandfather, Kim Il Sung.
North Korea marks the anniversary of the birthday of the nation’s founding father and ‘Eternal President of the Republic’, Kim Il Sung, as a national holiday known as ‘Day of the Sun’ on the 15th of April, but the leader of the country was not in attendance.
Reports from Daily NK, a media website run partly by defectors from North Korea, have referenced unidentified sources inside the country saying that Kim is recovering from surgery at a villa in the Mount Kumgang resort county of Hyangsan, following the procedure on the 12th April at a hospital there.
The hospital is located near Mount Myohyang, in North Pyongan Province, and is exclusively for the use of the Kim family.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, has yet to comment on the report.
the Daily NK report said that Kim’s health has deteriorated in recent months due to heavy smoking, obesity and overwork.
“My understanding is that he had been struggling (with cardiovascular problems) since last August but it worsened after repeated visits to Mount Paektu,”
An undisclosed source has been quoted as to saying, referring to the country’s sacred mountain.
Most of the doctors reportedly returned to Pyongyang after Kim’s condition was considered stable following the surgery. Only some of the doctors have remained near Kim to monitor his health, the Daily NK source said.
Around 30 members of Kim’s personal guard along with other guard units are reportedly watching over Hyang San Villa. Guards who were at the villa before Kim arrived have reportedly been stationed elsewhere for the time being.
Last week North Korea fired multiple short-range missiles which officials from the South said were also part of the ‘Day of the Sun’ celebrations.
Such military events would usually also have the presence of the Supreme Leader, but there was no KCNA ( Korean Central News Agency: North Korean state media) report on the test at all.
COVID-19 in North Korea
This news comes as North Korea has gradually begun reopening schools in the country after delaying the start of the school year for more than two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
University students and soon-to-be-graduating third year high school students returned to school on Apr. 17, a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK today.
Little is known about how badly affected the isolated country has been by the COVID-19 pandemic, Breaking News Today however, covered a story early on in the timeline of the outbreak, on the 9th of March, on how 180 soldiers in the country were reportedly dead from the coronavirus.
