China on Friday sent a team of experts, including several medical professionals, to North Korea to provide guidance on the health condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Reports surfaced last week that the secretive Mr. Kim was gravely ill following emergency heart surgery.
The Chinese delegation, led by a senior member of China’s International Liaison Department, the agency that handles relations with their southeast neighbor, left for North Korea on Thursday, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the trip.
Speculation of Mr. Kim’s condition has mounted since his surgery.
A senior official told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency last week the report was simply “not true,” and Kang Min-seok, a spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said there had been “no unusual signs have been identified inside North Korea.”
Trump administration officials have said only that Washington continues to monitor the reports, while analysts noted that speculation tends to swirl about North Korea because of its notoriously authoritarian controls on information — especially regarding the ruling Kim family.
Officials and experts alike have cautioned the health of the 36-year-old North Korean leader, who is known to have prior medical conditions, could be precarious.
The South Korean internet news outlet Daily NK, which focuses on news about North Korea, first reported that Mr. Kim had undergone surgery at Hyangsan Medical Center, said to be an exclusive hospital for the Kim family. The surgery was performed by a team of the country’s top doctors, who had traveled to Pyongyang for the procedure, the outlet said, citing only an unnamed source inside North Korea.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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