27/04/2020
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean officials are calling for caution amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be ill or is being isolated because of coronavirus concerns, emphasising that they have detected no unusual movements in North Korea.
At a closed door forum on Sunday, South Korea’s Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees engagement with the North, said the government has the intelligence capabilities to say with confidence that there was no indications of anything unusual.
Rumours and speculation over the North Korean leader’s health began after he made no public appearance at a key state holiday on April 15, and has since remained out of sight.
South Korea media last week reported that Kim may have undergone cardiovascular surgery or was in isolation to avoid exposure to the new coronavirus.
Unification minister Kim cast doubt on the report of surgery, arguing that the hospital mentioned did not have the capabilities for such an operation.
Still, Yoon Sang-hyun, chairman of the foreign and unification committee in South Korea’s National Assembly, told a gathering of experts on Monday that Kim Jong Un’s absence from the public eye suggests “he has not been working as normally”.
“There has not been any report showing he’s making policy decisions as usual since April 11, which leads us to assume that he is either sick or being isolated because of coronavirus concerns,” Yoon said.
North Korea has said it has no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but some international experts have cast doubts on that claim.
On Monday, North Korean state media once again showed no new photos of Kim nor reported on his whereabouts.
However, they did carry reports that he had sent a message of gratitude to workers building a tourist resort in Wonsan, an area where some South Korean media reports have said Kim may be staying.
“Our government position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said in comments to news outlets in the United States.
“Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”
Satellite images from last week showed a special train possibly belonging to Kim at Wonsan, lending weight to those reports, according to 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project.
Though the group said it was probably the North Korean leader’s personal train, Reuters has not been able to confirm that independently, or whether he was in Wonsan.
A spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry said on Monday she had nothing to confirm when asked about reports that Kim was in Wonsan.
Last week China dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Kim’s health.
On Friday a South Korean source told Reuters their intelligence was that Kim Jong Un was alive and would likely make an appearance soon.
Experts have cautioned that Kim has disappeared from state media coverage before, and that gathering accurate information in North Korea is notoriously difficult.
North Korea’s state media last reported on Kim’s whereabouts when he presided over a meeting on April 11.
Kim, believed to be 36, vanished from state media for more than a month in 2014 and North Korean state TV later showed him walking with a limp.
Source: Reuters
Posted in "unusual", 11, 15, 2014, 36, 38 North, absence, alive and well, amid, anything, appearance, April, area, arguing, assume, avoid, because, began, being isolated, belonging, Building, call for, calling, capabilities, cardiovascular, cast, caution, Chairman, China, claim, closed door, comments, concerns, confidence, confirmed cases, coronavirus, detected, disappeared, dispatched, doubt, emphasising, engagement, experts, exposure, firm, foreign and unification committee, foreign policy adviser, forum, Friday, gathering, Government, gratitude, health, Hospital, ill, including, independently, indications, intelligence, international experts, isolation, key, Kim, Kim Jong Un, last week, leaders, lending weight, limp, media, medical experts, meeting, mentioned, message, minister, Monday, monitoring project, month, movements, National Assembly, new coronavirus, news outlets, Normally, North, North Korea, North Korean leader, North Korean state TV, officials, operation, out of sight, oversees, personal train, photos, policy decisions, presided, President Moon Jae-in, public appearance, public eye, remained, reported, reports, Resort, Reuters, Rumours, Seoul, showed, sick, signalled, since, South Korea’s, South Korean, South Korean President, special train, speculation, spokeswoman, state holiday, State media, staying, suggests, Sunday, surgery, team, tourist, Uncategorized, undergone, unification, Unification minister, Unification Ministry, United States, unusual, vanished, walking, Washington-based, whereabouts, Wonsan, workers, working |
Leave a Comment »
21/04/2020
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean and Chinese officials on Tuesday cast doubt on reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was ill after media outlets said he had undergone a cardiovascular procedure and was in “grave danger”.
Daily NK, a Seoul-based speciality website, reported late on Monday, citing one unnamed source in North Korea, that Kim was recovering after undergoing the procedure on April 12. The North Korean leader is believed to be about 36.
CNN cited a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter as saying Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in grave danger after surgery. Bloomberg quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying the White House was told that Kim took a turn for the worse after the surgery.
However, two South Korean government officials rejected the CNN report without elaborating on whether Kim had undergone surgery. The presidential Blue House said there were no unusual signs coming from the reclusive, nuclear-capable state.
Kim is the unquestioned leader of North Korea and the sole commander of its nuclear arsenal. He has no clear successor and any instability in the country could be a major international risk.
The state KCNA news agency gave no indication of the whereabouts of Kim in routine dispatches on Tuesday, but said he had sent birthday gifts to prominent citizens.
An official at the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, which deals with North Korea, told Reuters the source did not believe Kim was critically ill. China is North Korea’s only major ally.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing was aware of reports about the health of Kim, but said it does not know their source, without commenting on whether it has any information about the situation.
South Korean shares exposed to North Korea tumbled and the Korean won fell on the reports. The won traded down more than 1% against the dollar even as South Korean government sources said Kim was not gravely ill.
U.S. stock futures were trading 0.5% lower, but it was not clear how much of that weakness was owing to the collapse in U.S. oil prices and consequent concerns over global demand.
Daily NK said Kim had been admitted to hospital on April 12, just hours before the cardiovascular procedure, as his health had deteriorated since August due to heavy smoking, obesity and overwork.
It said he was now receiving treatment at a villa in the Mount Myohyang resort north of the capital Pyongyang.
“My understanding is that he had been struggling (with cardiovascular problems) since last August but it worsened after repeated visits to Mount Paektu,” a source was quoted as saying, referring to the country’s sacred mountain.
Accompanied by senior North Korean figures, Kim took two well-publicised rides on a stallion on the snowy slopes of the mountain in October and December.
KIM’S HEALTH KEY TO STABILITY
An authoritative U.S. source familiar with internal U.S. government reporting on North Korea questioned the CNN report that Kim was in “grave danger”.
“Any credible direct reporting having to do with Kim would be highly compartmented intelligence and unlikely to leak to the media,” a Korea specialist working for the U.S. government said on condition of anonymity.
Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, declined to comment on the reports of Kim’s health.
“We are regularly gathering and analysing information about North Korea with great concern,” he said. “We will keep gathering and analysing information regarding North Korea by collaborating with other countries such as the U.S.”
Kim’s potential health issues could fuel uncertainty over the future of the reclusive state’s dynastic rule and stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States, issues in which Kim wields absolute authority.
With no details known about his young children, analysts say his sister and loyalists could form a regency until a successor is old enough to take over.
Speculation about Kim’s health first arose following his absence from the anniversary of the birthday of its founding father and Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, on April 15.
On April 12, North Korean state media reported that Kim Jong Un had visited an airbase and observed drills by fighter jets and attack aircraft.
Two days later North Korea launched multiple short-range anti-ship cruise missiles into the sea and Sukhoi jets fired air-to-surface missiles as part of military exercises.
The missile launches were part of the celebrations for Kim’s grandfather, Seoul officials said, but there was no North Korea state media report on his attendance or the tests.
Reporting from inside North Korea is notoriously difficult, especially on matters concerning the country’s leadership, given tight controls on information. There have been false and conflicting reports in the past on matters related to its leaders.
Kim is a third-generation hereditary leader who rules North Korea with an iron-fist, taking over the titles of head of state and commander in chief of the military since late 2011.
In recent years Kim has launched a diplomatic offensive to promote both himself as a world leader and his hermit kingdom, holding three meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, four with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and five with China’s President Xi Jinping.
He was the first North Korean leader to cross the border into South Korea to meet Moon in 2018. Both Koreas are technically still at war, as the Korean War of 1950-53 ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Kim has sought to have international sanctions against his country eased, but has refused to dismantle his nuclear weapons programme, a steadfast demand by the United States.
Source: Reuters
Posted in 1950-53, 2018, 36, about, absence, absolute, accompanied, admitted, after, air-to-surface missiles, airbase, ally, analysts, anniversary, anonymity, anti-ship, April, armistice, arose, attack aircraft, attendance, August, authoritative, authority, aware, “grave danger”, “monitoring intelligence”, before, Beijing, believed, Birthday, birthday gifts, Bloomberg, Blue House, border, capital, cardiovascular, cardiovascular problems, cast, celebrations, China, China's President Xi Jinping, China’s, Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Chinese officials, cited, citing, Citizens, clear, CNN, collaborating, collapse, coming from, commander-in-chief, comment, commenting, compartmented, concerning, concerns, condition, conflicting, consequent, controls, Country, country’s, critically ill, cross, Daily NK, deals, December, declined, demand, denuclearisation, details, deteriorated, difficult, diplomatic offensive, Direct, dismantle, dollar, doubt, drills, dynastic rule, eased, elaborating, enough, especially, exposed, false, fighter jets, fired, first, five, following, founding father, four, future, given, global demand, government officials, government spokesman, grandfather, gravely, head of state, health, heavy smoking, hereditary, hermit kingdom, himself, Hospital, hours, ill, indication, information, Instability, intelligence, international, international risk, iron-fist, issues, Japan’s, KCNA news agency, Kim, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un, knowledge, Korean, Korean War, launched, leader, leadership, leak, lower, loyalists, Major, matter, matters, media, media outlets, meetings, Military, military exercises, Monday, Mount Myohyang, Mount Paektu, Mountain, multiple, North, North Korean leader, notoriously, nuclear arsenal, nuclear weapons, nuclear-capable, obesity, observed, October, Official, old, one, only, overwork, owing, part, peace treaty, President Moon Jae-in, presidential, procedure, programme, prominent, promote, Pyongyang, quoted, receiving, reclusive, recovering, refused, regency, rejected, repeated, report, reported, reports, Resort, Reuters, rides, routine dispatche, routine dispatches, rules, sacred mountain, sanctions, saying, sea, senior, sent, Seoul, shares, short-range, sister, situation, snowy slopes, sole commander, source, South Korea, South Korean, speciality, speculation, stalled, stallion, state, steadfast, still at war, struggling, succession, successor, Sukhoi jets, surgery, take over, taking, talks, technically, tests, Third-generation, Three, tight, titles, told, top, trading, treatment, Tuesday, tumbled, turn for the worse, two, U.S. official, U.S. oil prices, U.S. President Donald Trump, Uncategorized, uncertainty, undergoing, undergone, United States, unlikely, unnamed, unquestioned, unusual signs, urn for the worse, villa, visited, visits, Washington, weakness, website, well-publicised, whereabouts, whether, White House, wields, without, won, world leader, worsened, young children |
Leave a Comment »
07/07/2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has received a briefing from the United States on the latest meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, in a call between two senior diplomats.
Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea on Sunday when he met Kim in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at Panmunjom between the two Koreas and agreed to resume stalled nuclear talks.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui and U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun discussed that meeting in a telephone call on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a short statement.
“Biegun introduced the meeting between the U.S. and North Korean leaders at Panmunjom, and said the U.S. side is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with the Chinese side on the peninsula issue,” the ministry added.
Luo told Biegun the recent “positive interactions” on the North Korean issue by all parties had important meaning for the peace talks process, the ministry said.
“China supports U.S.-North Korea exchanges and dialogue and hopes that the two sides will meet each other halfway and follow the consensus of the leaders of the two countries to resume consultations at the working level as soon as possible,” it added.
Trump’s meeting with Kim came around a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Kim himself during a state visit to Pyongyang.
While China has not officially announced it, Luo is likely China’s new special envoy for the North Korea issue, after predecessor Kong Xuanyou became China’s new ambassador in Tokyo in late May.
Luo was also involved in a briefing to Chinese reporters on Xi’s visit to North Korea before Xi went, according to state media.
Luo is an urbane career diplomat who speaks good English, according to diplomats who have met him.
He previously served as China’s ambassador in Canada, Pakistan and India, and also worked in the Chinese embassy in Washington from 1996-2000.
Source: Reuters
Posted in canada, China alert, China’s ambassador, China’s Foreign Ministry, Chinese embassy in Washington, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese vice foreign minister, Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), India alert, Kim Jong Un, Luo Zhaohui, North Korea issue, North Korean leader, nuclear talks, Pakistan, Panmunjom, Trump-Kim meeting, two Koreas, U.S., U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Uncategorized, US President Donald Trump |
Leave a Comment »
14/03/2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was in no rush to complete a trade pact with China and insisted that any deal include protection for intellectual property, a major sticking point between the two sides during months of negotiations.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had been expected to hold a summit at the president’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida later this month, but no date has been set for a meeting and no in-person talks between their trade teams have been held in more than two weeks.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that a meeting between the two was more likely to take place in April at the earliest.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that there “were rumblings” in Washington about a possible meeting in late April.
The president, speaking to reporters at the White House, said he thought there was a good chance a deal would be made, in part because China wanted one after suffering from U.S. tariffs on its goods.
But he acknowledged Xi may be wary of coming to a summit without an agreement in hand after seeing Trump end a separate summit in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without a peace deal.
“I think President Xi saw that I’m somebody that believes in walking when the deal is not done, and you know there’s always a chance it could happen and he probably wouldn’t want that,” Trump said.
China has not made any public comment confirming Xi is considering going to meet Trump in Florida or elsewhere.
The president, who likes to emphasize his own deal-making abilities, said an agreement to end a months-long trade war could be finished ahead of a presidential meeting or completed in-person with his counterpart.
“We could do it either way. We could have the deal completed and come and sign, or we could get the deal almost completed and negotiate some of the final points. I would prefer that,” he said.
Trump decided last month not to increase tariffs on Chinese goods at the beginning of March, giving a nod to the success of negotiations so far.
But hurdles remain, and intellectual property is one of them. Washington accuses Beijing of forcing U.S. companies to share their intellectual property and transfer their technology to local partners in order to do business in China. Beijing denies it engages in such practices.
Asked on Wednesday if intellectual property had to be included in a trade deal, Trump said: “Yes it does.”
He indicated that from his perspective, a meeting with Xi was still likely.
“I think things are going along very well – we’ll just see what the date is,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I’m in no rush. I want the deal to be right. … I am not in a rush whatsoever. It’s got to be the right deal. It’s got to be a good deal for us and if it’s not, we’re not going to make that deal.”
‘MAINTAINING CONTACT’
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Xi had previously told Trump that he is willing to “maintain contacts” with the U.S. president.
Trump says he’s ‘in no rush’ to reach a trade deal with China
Over the weekend, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, who has been deeply involved in the trade talks with the United States, did not answer questions from reporters on whether Xi would go to Mar-a-Lago.
Two Beijing-based diplomatic sources, familiar with the situation, told Reuters that Xi would not be going to Mar-a-Lago, at least in the near term.
One said there had been no formal approach from the United States to China about such a trip, while the second said the problem was that China had realized a trade agreement was not going to be as easy to reach as they had initially thought.
“This is media hype,” said the first source, of reports Xi and Trump could meet this month in Florida.
Though Trump said he is not in a hurry, a trade deal this spring would give him a win to cite as an economic accomplishment as he advances his 2020 re-election campaign. The trade war has hurt the global economy and hung over stock markets, which would likely benefit from an end to the tensions.
In addition to smoothing over sticking points on content, the United States is eager to include a strong enforcement mechanism in a deal to ensure that Beijing can be held accountable if it breaks any of its terms.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has spearheaded the talks from the American side, said on Tuesday that U.S. officials hoped they were in the final weeks of their talks with China but that major issues remained to be resolved.
Source: Reuters
Posted in China alert, Foreign Ministry, Kim Jong Un, Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, North Korean leader, President Trump, protection for intellectual property,, Reuters, Robert Lighthizer, Trade pact, U.S. Trade Representative, Uncategorized, USA, Vice Commerce Minister, Vietnam, Wang Shouwen, White House |
Leave a Comment »
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
South Korean officials call for caution amid reports that North Korean leader Kim is ill
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean officials are calling for caution amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be ill or is being isolated because of coronavirus concerns, emphasising that they have detected no unusual movements in North Korea.
At a closed door forum on Sunday, South Korea’s Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees engagement with the North, said the government has the intelligence capabilities to say with confidence that there was no indications of anything unusual.
Rumours and speculation over the North Korean leader’s health began after he made no public appearance at a key state holiday on April 15, and has since remained out of sight.
South Korea media last week reported that Kim may have undergone cardiovascular surgery or was in isolation to avoid exposure to the new coronavirus.
Unification minister Kim cast doubt on the report of surgery, arguing that the hospital mentioned did not have the capabilities for such an operation.
Still, Yoon Sang-hyun, chairman of the foreign and unification committee in South Korea’s National Assembly, told a gathering of experts on Monday that Kim Jong Un’s absence from the public eye suggests “he has not been working as normally”.
“There has not been any report showing he’s making policy decisions as usual since April 11, which leads us to assume that he is either sick or being isolated because of coronavirus concerns,” Yoon said.
North Korea has said it has no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but some international experts have cast doubts on that claim.
On Monday, North Korean state media once again showed no new photos of Kim nor reported on his whereabouts.
However, they did carry reports that he had sent a message of gratitude to workers building a tourist resort in Wonsan, an area where some South Korean media reports have said Kim may be staying.
“Our government position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said in comments to news outlets in the United States.
“Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”
Satellite images from last week showed a special train possibly belonging to Kim at Wonsan, lending weight to those reports, according to 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project.
Though the group said it was probably the North Korean leader’s personal train, Reuters has not been able to confirm that independently, or whether he was in Wonsan.
A spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry said on Monday she had nothing to confirm when asked about reports that Kim was in Wonsan.
Last week China dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Kim’s health.
On Friday a South Korean source told Reuters their intelligence was that Kim Jong Un was alive and would likely make an appearance soon.
Experts have cautioned that Kim has disappeared from state media coverage before, and that gathering accurate information in North Korea is notoriously difficult.
North Korea’s state media last reported on Kim’s whereabouts when he presided over a meeting on April 11.
Kim, believed to be 36, vanished from state media for more than a month in 2014 and North Korean state TV later showed him walking with a limp.
Source: Reuters
Posted in "unusual", 11, 15, 2014, 36, 38 North, absence, alive and well, amid, anything, appearance, April, area, arguing, assume, avoid, because, began, being isolated, belonging, Building, call for, calling, capabilities, cardiovascular, cast, caution, Chairman, China, claim, closed door, comments, concerns, confidence, confirmed cases, coronavirus, detected, disappeared, dispatched, doubt, emphasising, engagement, experts, exposure, firm, foreign and unification committee, foreign policy adviser, forum, Friday, gathering, Government, gratitude, health, Hospital, ill, including, independently, indications, intelligence, international experts, isolation, key, Kim, Kim Jong Un, last week, leaders, lending weight, limp, media, medical experts, meeting, mentioned, message, minister, Monday, monitoring project, month, movements, National Assembly, new coronavirus, news outlets, Normally, North, North Korea, North Korean leader, North Korean state TV, officials, operation, out of sight, oversees, personal train, photos, policy decisions, presided, President Moon Jae-in, public appearance, public eye, remained, reported, reports, Resort, Reuters, Rumours, Seoul, showed, sick, signalled, since, South Korea’s, South Korean, South Korean President, special train, speculation, spokeswoman, state holiday, State media, staying, suggests, Sunday, surgery, team, tourist, Uncategorized, undergone, unification, Unification minister, Unification Ministry, United States, unusual, vanished, walking, Washington-based, whereabouts, Wonsan, workers, working | Leave a Comment »