The Japanese government believes recent belligerence by North Korea could be explained by the spread of COVID-19 in its territory, poor health on the part of leader Kim Jong Un, and other economic factors, the country’s defense minister said Thursday.
Speaking at an English-language press briefing at the Japanese Foreign Correspondents Club, Taro Kono said that Japan, in conjunction with the U.S. and other countries, was actively exchanging information on North Korea’s “strange” recent actions.
Taking care to avoid attributing his comments to Japanese intelligence, Kono said he believed Pyongyang’s latest escalations may be to “take away the attention of North Korean people away from Kim Jong Un’s health, or the bad harvest, or the bad economy.”
“We suspect, number one, that COVID-19 is spreading around North Korea as well, and Kim Jong Un is trying to… not [be] infected by COVID-19,” he explained. “So sometimes he doesn’t come [out] in public.”
“Number two, we have some suspicion about his health,” he continued. “Thirdly, the harvest last year in North Korea wasn’t quite good – bad, actually… The economy in North Korea is not doing well.”
Kono avoided a direct question about Kim’s health, however, answering that he wasn’t “allowed to discuss intelligence issues, including if it is [an] intelligence issue or not.”
The minister attributed his view that COVID-19 was already inside the DPRK to public information.
“The Commander of U.S. forces in Korea also talked about that, he believes that COVID-19 is already inside North Korea,” he said. “I personally agree his view. We just need to estimate how widely it is spreading.”
The defense minister’s comments come after weeks of escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, culminating in last week’s demolition by the North of an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong.
North Korea was on Wednesday, however, reported to have called off plans for an unspecified “military action” against South Korea at a high-level military meeting.
State media carried no imagery of that meeting, with Kim having last appeared in public on June 7, in apparent good health.
Terrence Matsuo contributed reporting
Edited by Oliver Hotham
The Japanese government believes recent belligerence by North Korea could be explained by the spread of COVID-19 in its territory, poor health on the part of leader Kim Jong Un, and other economic factors, the country's defense minister said Thursday.
Speaking at an English-language press briefing at the Japanese Foreign Correspondents Club, Taro Kono said that Japan, in conjunction with the U.S. and other countries, was actively exchanging information on North Korea’s “strange” recent actions.
