Life is continuing as normal in Pyongyang, multiple sources there told NK News on Tuesday, despite multiple viral news reports about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s health status.

Unconfirmed reports first emerged in the Seoul-based Daily NK on Monday that the DPRK leader had undergone heart surgery.

Those rumors were then compounded by a report from CNN, citing an unnamed U.S. intelligence official as saying they were “monitoring intelligence” that Kim Jong Un was in “grave danger” following an operation.

Speaking to NK News on Tuesday, one source in Pyongyang reported that schools had begun reopening after an extended COVID-19 break and that there is “nothing unusual for the time being.”

Another resident there said: “everything is as is.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean Kim Jong Un isn’t undergoing serious cardiac problems: the general population would normally be guarded from learning any detail about his health status.

In light of Tuesday’s rumors, a former U.S. intelligence source confirmed to NK News that the U.S. “is definitely monitoring this,” noting Kim Jong Un’s prior issues with his leg.

But the source cautioned about reading too deeply into the increasingly viral news.

“Don’t be surprised when he shows up (again) soon…(as if) he never had any health issues,” they said.

Contacted by NK News on Tuesday, the White House declined to comment. The Blue House, South Korea’s Presidential office, also sought to play down the reports.

“Concerning the rumor on North Korean chairman Kim Jong Un’s health irregularities that was reported by some media outlets, we have nothing to confirm,” Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok said. “No special trends have been detected inside North Korea.”

Several developments during the past week previously raised questions about the North Korean leader’s whereabouts, however.

Kim Jong Un was last week revealed to have skipped an annual public event intended to mark the anniversary of his grandfather’s birth, a development experts said was highly unusual.

In addition, DPRK state media made no mention at all of a reported cruise missile test last week, an event which Kim Jong Un would have normally attended based on precedence.

Likewise, a much-anticipated ceremony to mark the completion of the Wonsan-Kalma tourist resort did not take place around its April 15 deadline and construction appears to be ongoing, with no official word of a delay – despite Kim announcing the previous two delays on the keynote project.

The North Korean leader last appeared in official state media on the front-page of the April 12 edition of state newspaper Rodong Sinmun, guiding a meeting of the country’s ruling party Politburo.

He was also reported that same day to have attended an air force drill at a base north of Pyongyang which NK News determined took place on April 10.

RECENT RUMORS

Claims that Kim Jong Un may be seriously incapacitated by health problems have swirled since early this year.

On Saturday, NK News saw a Korean-text rumor which was circulating in Seoul that suggested Kim Jong Un was “brain dead” after a botched surgery.

Much of the text reused wording from a similar rumor which circulated in Korean media in 2014, when Kim Jong Un disappeared for 40 days before re-emerging in state media with a cane.

And in February, claims about Kim’s cardiac health surfaced in both Japanese and Korean-language YouTube channels.

Unverified claims in February 11 and February 14 videos said Kim was suffering from heart disease and had undergone an unsuccessful operation in China in early January. 

That operation reportedly prevented him from going to Wonsan to spend his birthday on January 8, one report said.

As a result, two “world-renowned cardiologists” were called in from France, apparently arriving by private jet in Pyongyang on February 10.

After arriving, they were said to have provided Kim with treatment at the Ponghwa clinic in Sojang-dong in the Pothonggang district.

At the time, NK News was unable to corroborate the reports and found no evidence in satellite imagery of private jets arriving that day at Pyongyang’s Sunan airport.

Despite North Korea imposing a total suspension of international flights in early February to fight Coronavirus, one smaller aircraft was missing from the apron that day, satellite images taken on dates around it showed. 

2014 also saw rumors emerge that the leader was suffering from serious health problems, following his absence from public view for over six weeks.

One expert urged caution and suggested that Tuesday’s reports should be taken with a pinch of salt.

“First of all, we have to be very careful about all these kinds of rumors,” Andrei Lankov, a director of the Korea Risk Group, which owns and operates NK News, said.

“We have seen similar stories a number of times. In 2014, Kim Jong Un disappeared, and again we had all these stories,” he continued. “He might indeed be sick, but despite his weight, and bad health, he is young and has access to very good medical care.”

Additional reporting by Jeongmin Kim