North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suffered from a “high fever” during a recent COVID-19 outbreak, his sister Kim Yo-jong said yesterday, as she vowed to “eradicate” South Korean authorities if they continued to tolerate propaganda leaflets the regime blames for spreading the virus.
Kim Yo-jong blamed “South Korean puppets” for sending “dirty objects” across the border in leaflets carried by balloons, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The revelation of her brother’s illness marked an unusual admission for a regime that rarely comments on the leader’s health — and then only to show that he shares the struggles of the people.
Photo: Reuters
Kim Yo-jong said in a speech the North Korean leader was “seriously ill” during his bout with fever, KCNA reported.
Still, she added in a quivering voice that her brother “could not lie down for even a moment because of his concerns for the people,” with state TV showing audience members in tears as she delivered her remarks.
She did not say whether the elder Kim was among what North Korea calls “fever cases” or specify the date of his illness. Overweight and a smoker, Kim Jong-un’s health has prompted speculation for years.
Kim Yo-jong delivered a carefully calibrated message to underscore that her brother has suffered, like the country’s citizens, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, regional issues manager at the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network.
“It is consistent with North Korea’s leadership propaganda strategy in recent years that shifted from deifying the leader to portraying the leader as a regular human being who is constantly with the people and shares his life’s joys and sorrows with the people,” said Lee, who worked as an analyst for the CIA’s Open Source Enterprise for almost two decades.
Kim Jong-un went about 17 days without an appearance in state media last month, but he often drops out of view in summer to spend time at his seaside mansion and megayacht. He attended a ruling party meeting on Wednesday in which he claimed “victory” in the “great quarantine war.”
North Korea has not called its hundreds of thousands of reported fever cases “COVID-19,” perhaps because it lacks a sufficient supply of test kits.
While Kim Jong-un made mention of South Korea in published remarks, his sister issued her first threat against the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol since it took power in May.
“If the enemy continues to do such a dangerous thing that can introduce virus into our republic, we will respond by eradicating not only the virus, but also the South Korean authorities,” she said in the speech to ruling party members.
The South Korean Unification Ministry expressed “strong regret” over her statement, calling her claims “rude” and unsubstantiated.
The threats were couched in conditional terms, Lee said, adding that “it is uncertain as of now how far North Korea will go to escalate tensions with South Korea.”
Pyongyang’s heated rhetoric against Seoul could set the stage for a resumption of military provocations that have slowed in recent months, possibility due to the outbreak. It appears to be readying to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017, government officials from Japan, South Korea and the US have said.
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