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US President Donald Trump has thrown more cold water on reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was gravely ill but declined to say if he had been in touch with officials there.
Key points:
- Mr Trump said he thinks reports are incorrect and heard it was based on "old documents"
- Mr Trump said he might contact North Korean officials to inquire about Mr Kim
- US media reported that Kim Jong-un was "gravely ill" after a surgery
"I think the report was incorrect," Mr Trump said at a daily White House briefing, adding that he had heard it was based on "old documents."
Reports in the US media that Mr Kim was "gravely ill" have been repudiated by various sources from South Korea, China, and the nuclear-armed state itself.
Jim Sciutto, CNN's chief national security correspondent, said a US official told him Mr Kim was in "grave danger" after surgery.
But South Korea's presidential office said Mr Kim appeared to be handling state affairs as usual and that it had no information about the rumours regarding his health.
Mr Trump had said he might contact North Korean officials to inquire about Mr Kim but gave no indication he had done so.
The two leaders have had regular communications over the past couple of years.
"We have a good relationship with North Korea, I have a good relationship with Kim Jong-un and I hope he's OK," Mr Trump said.
Daily NK, a Seoul-based website, reported on Monday that Mr Kim, who is believed to be about 36, was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12.
It cited one unnamed source in North Korea. The state-controlled media in North Korea has been silent on Mr Kim's whereabouts.
However, Mr Trump said earlier in the week that reports had not been confirmed and he did not put much credence in them.
"If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say … that would be [a] very serious condition," Mr Trump said.
"I just hope he's doing fine. I've had a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un. And I'd like to see him do well. We'll see how he does. We don't know if the reports are true."
Two South Korean government officials rejected a CNN report citing an unnamed US official that said the United States was "monitoring intelligence" that Mr Kim was in grave danger after surgery.
The US Government's latest information on the North Korean leadership is that Mr Kim still remains out of sight and there is a dearth of reliable information about the reasons for his absence, according to a source familiar with current intelligence reporting and analysis.
US officials acknowledge Mr Kim does have a history of health problems and is overweight, and say this does at least raise a credible possibility he has suffered some kind of health crisis, the source said.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, leadership, donald-trump, unrest-conflict-and-war, korea-democratic-peoples-republic-of, united-states
First posted