South Korea says Kim Jong Un may be in hiding from coronavirus

3 years ago
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South Korean officials say they know Kim Jong Un’s location.
“The government is aware of Kim Jong Un’s location” Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said when asked directly in a parliamentary session on Tuesday, without elaborating, Bloomberg reports.
Kim also suggested that coronavirus may be the reason why the North Korean leader was not seen for nearly 20 days due to the coronavirus.
"He had never missed the anniversary for Kim Il Sung's birthday since he took power, but many anniversary events including celebrations and a banquet had been canceled because of coronavirus concerns," the minister told a parliamentary hearing, according to Reuters.
"I don't think that's particularly unusual given the current (coronavirus) situation," the minister said, although North Korea has said it has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
North Korea has canceled some large events, imposed a border lockdown, and increased quarantine measures in an effort to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump said on Monday he has a good idea of how Kim Jong Un is doing and hopes he is fine, but would not elaborate.
The last time official media in North Korea reported on Kim's whereabouts was when he presided over a meeting on April 11.
Speculation about the 36-year-old North Korean leader’s health accelerated after the Seoul-based news site Daily NK reported April 20 that he was recovering from surgery, citing an unidentified person inside the country.
The North Korean monitoring group, 38 North, said a train allegedly belonging to Kim has been parked at his compound last week.

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