China Remains Silent on Kim Jong-un's Health Rumors... Only Speculation Abounds

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] Amid the spread of various rumors regarding North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's health issues, China is showing a cautious stance toward related reports and announcements.

On the 26th, Chinese media remained silent about the rumors concerning Kim’s health. China Central Television (CCTV) only reported on a North Korean Rodong Sinmun article stating that Kim expressed gratitude to workers involved in the construction of Samjiyon City, without mentioning any health-related rumors.

The Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, also refrained from reporting on Kim’s health rumors in its overseas edition, instead citing the Rodong Sinmun article about Gennady Zyuganov, chairman of the Russian Communist Party, sending a congratulatory message on the first anniversary of Kim’s visit to Russia.

When searching keywords such as Kim Jong-un and North Korea on Chinese search engines like Baidu, no results related to health rumors appear. Although some foreign media have reported on Kim’s health issues and China’s dispatch of medical personnel to North Korea, no Chinese media outlets have conveyed such information.

The Chinese government emphasizes the friendly and developmental relationship between North Korea and China while not providing any official confirmation regarding Kim’s health rumors. Chinese diplomatic circles also consistently maintain that no unusual developments related to North Korea have been detected.

However, on social networking services (SNS) such as Weibo and WeChat, rumors about Kim Jong-un are spreading, evading government surveillance. These mainly include reports from foreign media citing sources about Kim’s critical condition, death rumors, and the dispatch of Chinese medical teams to North Korea.

Since CNN raised health concerns on the 20th with the report that "U.S. authorities are monitoring intelligence indicating Kim is in serious danger after surgery," major foreign media have been reporting various stories related to Kim. The day before, a Western news agency reported that China had sent a delegation including medical experts to North Korea to advise on Kim’s condition.

On the same day, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported that about 50 medical experts from the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (301 Hospital) in Beijing, led by Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, were believed to have been dispatched to North Korea on or before the 23rd.

The newspaper stated that it is unclear whether the dispatch of the 50-member medical team is related to Kim’s health rumors, leaving open the possibility that it is part of broader support efforts related to COVID-19 response.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-based North Korea specialist media 38 North reported that a train presumed to be Kim’s personal train has been stationed at a railway station in Wonsan, North Korea, since at least the 21st (Korean time), lending weight to the possibility that Kim is staying in the Wonsan area after presiding over a Workers’ Party Politburo meeting.

Kim Jong-un has not appeared publicly since last chairing the Party Politburo meeting held in Pyongyang on the 11th. On the 15th, the birthday of President Kim Il-sung, Kim did not pay respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun for the first time since taking power, fueling various rumors about his health issues, critical condition, and death.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.