Donald Trump wishes Kim Jong-un well amid reports on North Korean leader’s health
- ‘If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say … that would be very serious condition,’ US president tells White House news conference
- White House ‘very closely’ monitoring claim that Kim is gravely ill after cardiovascular procedure
US President Donald Trump wished North Korea’s Kim Jong-un well on Tuesday, amid reports that the leader was gravely ill after a cardiovascular procedure.
“If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say … that would be very serious condition,” Trump told a White House news conference, although he also said that the reports had not been confirmed, and he did not put much credence in them.
“I just hope he’s doing fine. I’ve had a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un. And I’d like to see him do well. We’ll see how he does. We don’t know if the reports are true.”
Daily NK, a Seoul-based speciality website, reported late on Monday that Kim, who is believed to be about 36, was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12. It cited one unnamed source in North Korea.
Two South Korean government officials rejected a subsequent CNN report citing an unnamed US official saying that the United States was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in grave danger after surgery.
