Two new voices have come forward on the status of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
One says Kim is dead. The other says he’s gravely sick.
South Korean government says he’s alive and well.
This week, however, defector from North Korea claimed he’s “99 percent” sure of Kim’s death following surgery, according to The New York Post.
Ji Seong-ho, now a lawmaker in South Korea, says he thinks Kim’s death will be announced this weekend.
“I’ve wondered how long he could have endured after cardiovascular surgery,” he told The Post. “I’ve been informed that Kim died last weekend. It is not 100 percent certain, but I can say the possibility is 99 percent. North Korea is believed to be grappling with a complicated succession issue.”
The New York-based paper was unable to confirm Ji’s source.
But the prognosis from a prominent intelligence chief could prove more official.
Taiwan’s intel chief Chiu Kuo-cheng reportedly told the media that he knows Kim is sick.
How sick?
Well, Chiu didn’t say.
“My answer is from the intelligence that is available and it is not an opinion,” he told The Taipei Times.
And he’s also claiming that if indeed Kim is dead, a contingency plan is already in place among North Korean officials.
It was reported that Kim underwent surgery on Apr. 12. — and since then no one has heard from the leader of the communist dictatorship.
The Horn editorial team