Rumors are flying after the North Korean dictator skipped a parade in honor of the country’s 60th anniversary. A U.S. intelligence official said Kim apparently “suffered a health setback, potentially a stroke.” Or he could be fine. News travels slow out of the hermit kingdom.

No one quite knows what a post-Kim North Korea would look like, although in the short term, as the L.A. Times reports, his passing could derail nuclear disarmament negotiations.

Los Angeles Times:

Kim’s prolonged illness or death could have an important effect on the current international effort to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. North Korea’s military is strongly opposed to the country surrendering such arms, and analysts believe its influence would grow if Kim were sidelined or dead.

However, some observers expressed caution about the latest reports of ill health.

“He is going to die sooner or later and eventually one of these reports about his health will be true, but this one is probably much ado about nothing,” said Andrei Lankov, a respected Pyongyang watcher and a professor at South Korea’s Kookmin University. He said the extreme secrecy about the North Korean regime made it unlikely that either the United States or South Korea had received reliable intelligence about Kim’s health.

Read more

 Your support is crucial...

As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.

Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.

Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG
In this Article:
#dictator#health#intelligence#kim jong il#korean peninsula#north korea#nuclear