KBS WORLD Radio
Related News
Chronology of Events
NK Nuclear Facilities
Missile Capabilities
Long-Range
Rocket Launch
Untitled Document
   
State Dept. Refuses to Comment on Rumors Surrounding N. Korean Leader
2014-09-30 Updated.
 
Anchor: As North Korea's leader has avoided the public view for nearly a month, rumors have emerged that Kim Jong-un is suffering from health problems or has been detained following a military coup. While the U.S. State Department refused to comment on the rumors, U.S. experts on the North have dismissed them as groundless.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: The United States says it cannot confirm the rumors that a military coup has broken out in North Korea and that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has been detained.
 
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that the department has seen the reports, but doesn’t have any confirmation of them.
 
The rumors began spreading last weekend on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site, amid the reclusive leader’s lack of appearance in the public eye for nearly a month.
 
Psaki’s response seems to demonstrate that Washington feels there is no particular need to comment on such reports as their basis is unclear.
 
U.S. experts on North Korea also say there is no need to pay attention to such reports.
 
At a meeting on inter-Korean relations held at the Brookings Institution on Monday, John Merrill, former chief of the Northeast Asia Division of Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State, said recent rumors surrounding Kim are merely hopeful messages.
 
[Sound bite: John Merril- Former Chief of the Northeast Asia Division of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State, (English)]
“We have a tendency of being prone to wishful thinking when we talk about North Korea, so I think he's around for a while.”
 
Also at the meeting, Stanford University Professor Shin Gi-wook addressed last week’s rumors that the North Korean leader is suffering from health issues, saying there is little possibility that his condition is serious.
 
[Sound bite: Shin Gi-wook – Stanford University Professor, (English)]
“He is still young and he might have a little problem, but I do not think he will die anytime soon."
 
The experts said Seoul and Washington should not focus on Kim’s health problems when devising North Korea policies but should instead center on what would lead to changes in the communist state. They stressed that such efforts should be led by South Korea.
 
The experts also emphasized the need to expand humanitarian aid to the North and promote human exchanges.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News. 
 
 
List