NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The mystery surrounding Kim Jong Un's health, let alone his whereabouts, took another turn Sunday morning after a South Korean presidential aide told Fox News that the North Korean leader is "alive and well" despite not being publicly seen for two weeks.
Chung-in Moon, foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told Fox News. "Our government position is firm. 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."
Helping to back up the aide's claim that Kim is in the east coast port city of Wonsan is the release on Saturday of satellite photos by 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, showing what appeared to be Kim’s personal, 250-meter-long train at a railway station in Wonsan on April 21 and 23.
But the authors of the report caution, “The train’s presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast."
And the Washington Post reported early Sunday that "U.S. and South Korean intelligence services remain skeptical of reports that Kim is dead or gravely ill," citing three government officials familiar with the matter.
Sunday's shifting buzz that Kim is alive, is different from Saturday, when he was absent from that day's media coverage of festivities celebrating the founding of the country's armed forces, as rumors and unconfirmed reports swirl around the region about the dictator's state of health, ranging from being in a "vegetative" state to being dead.
1010 WINS reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment on the rumors and reports.
Kim's absence from the media coverage came two days after China dispatched on Thursday a team -- which included government officials and medical experts -- from Beijing to North Korea to "to advise" on Kim, according to Reuters, citing three people familiar with the situation.
Reuters reported that it was unable to determine the exact purpose of the trip, but again, it came as media reports from South Korea and China, in particular, claimed that the dictator is in extremely poor health -- or worse.
A senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department led the delegation, two sources told Reuters.
Also adding to the confusion are the remarks on Saturday of Beijing-backed HKSTV Hong Kong Satellite Television's vice director, who is also a niece of a Chinese foreign minister, who claims Kim is dead. On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, she claims she has a "very solid source."
More confusion? The same day, Japanese magazine Shukan Gendai reported that Kim is in a “vegetative state” after he allegedly underwent heart surgery earlier this month. It also reported that a team from China was sent to North Korea.
But President Trump is convinced that nothing is wrong with Kim, telling reporters at a briefing earlier this week, "I think it was a fake report," adding that he heard the reporting was based on "old documents".
