Kim Jong Un's train spotted at resort as rumours swirl over his health

SEOUL • A train likely belonging to Mr Kim Jong Un has been spotted at a resort town in the country's east, satellite photos reviewed by a US-based think-tank show, as speculation persists over the North Korean leader's health.

The train, resembling one long used by North Korean rulers, was parked last week near a coastal leadership compound in Wonsan, according to an analysis of satellite imagery released yesterday by the website 38 North.

The train was parked at a station reserved for the Kim family on April 21 and April 23, the respected 38 North website said in a report published last Saturday.

38 North cautioned that the train's presence "does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health".

"But it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country's eastern coast," it said.

China has sent a team including doctors and senior diplomats to advise its neighbour and longtime ally, Reuters reported last Saturday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The lack of real information from the hermetic country is giving rise to rampant rumour mongering, leaving North Korea experts, foreign officials and intelligence agencies to parse through all the speculation for signs of the truth.

Depending on the news outlet or social media post, Mr Kim, believed to be 36, is recuperating after a minor health issue like a sprained ankle, or he is "in grave danger" after heart surgery. Another rumour is that he has become "brain dead" or is in a "vegetative state" after a heart-valve operation gone wrong at the hands of a nervous North Korean surgeon, or one of the doctors China dispatched to treat him.

Yet another is that Mr Kim is grounded with Covid-19. Where did he get it? From one of those Chinese doctors.

One rumour circulating in South Korean messaging apps claims that after French doctors could not wake Mr Kim from his "coma", Mr Kim Pyong Il, a half-brother of Mr Kim's late father, seized power with the help of pro-Chinese elites in Pyongyang, the North's capital.

It goes on to say that Mr Kim's powerful sister, Ms Kim Yo Jong, has been detained, while Beijing is secretly bargaining with Washington over the future of North Korea and its nuclear weapons.

Seoul has questioned the accuracy of the unconfirmed reports, while the South Korean news media appears to dismiss most of them as rumours spreading through Chinese social media and beyond.

But they cannot be completely ignored either, since North Korea is so secretive that the world's most powerful intelligence agencies have been unable to penetrate Mr Kim's inner circles.

Mr Kim last appeared publicly on April 11, when he presided over a politburo meeting. Speculation about his health began swirling after Mr Kim missed state celebrations for his country's biggest holiday, the April 14 birthday of his grandfather and founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung.

Rumours went into overdrive after Daily NK, a Seoul-based website relying on anonymous sources inside the North, reported last Monday that Mr Kim was recovering from heart surgery performed on April 12. The next day, CNN added to the frenzy, reporting that Washington was monitoring intelligence that Mr Kim was "in grave danger".

Last Saturday, TMZ, a celebrity-news website in the United States, blared: "N. Korea dictator Kim Jong Un reportedly dead after botched heart surgery."

More than once, US President Donald Trump has wished Mr Kim well if he indeed were ill.

"North Korea's secrecy and our lack of reliable information create a breeding ground for rumours," said professor of international studies Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

"But his continued absence would be destabilising as more people in and outside the country wonder if he is incapacitated or dead."

Meanwhile, a South Korean news report said last Saturday that the US had detected preparations for a missile test in Sondeok, farther up the east coast, from where the North launched missiles last August and again last month in Mr Kim's presence.

NYTIMES, BLOOMBERG