No unusual movements have been detected in North Korea despite rumors about its leader Kim Jong Un's health, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong Doo said today, stressing that Kim's absence from public view is not new. "Our intelligence shows that there are no abnormalities, no unusual movements in North Korea," Jeong told lawmakers during a parliamentary committee meeting. The minister pointed to the Seoul government's repeated assessment that Kim is believed to be handling state affairs normally, saying it was made based on comprehensive intelligence data. Kim had not appeared in public for as long as 27 days last year, and he had been absent from public view around three times this year alone, according to the minister. "As a defense minister, I've taken this issue very seriously and checked all the situations, not only military circumstances but others such as the COVID-19 virus," Jeong said, adding that the South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities shared their intelligence on a daily basis.

Source: The Standard April 29, 2020 10:07 UTC