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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 28 april 2020
Questions over Kim's health highlight intelligence limits

By KIM TONG-HYUNG gest that Kim could have
Associated Press suffered some sort of medi-
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) cal setback but likely not a
— North Korean leader life-threatening one, said
Kim Jong Un's prolonged Du Hyeogn Cha, a senior
public absence has led to researcher at Seoul's Asan
rumors of ill health and wor- Institute for Policy Studies.
ries about how it could in- But the root problem may
fluence the future of what be the shaky nature of
one analyst calls Northeast South Korean intelligence.
Asia's "Achilles' heel," a ref- "Even after decades of
erence to the North's bellig- work, South Korea has yet
erence and unpredictable to build a reliable intelli-
nature. gence network to gather
But there's a basic, unan- information on the North,"
swered question, debated said Cha, an ex-intelli-
by the media and govern- gence secretary to former
ment intelligence services South Korean President Lee
alike: Are the rumors even Myung-bak. "It's clear our
true? government has some level
The exact state of Kim's of information on the North,
health matters because it but not enough to make a
could determine the stabil- In this undated file photo provided by the North Korean government on April 12, 2020, North confident statement about
ity of the dynastic govern- Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects an air defense unit in western area, North Korea. where he is and whether
ment in Pyongyang and Associated Press. he's fully healthy."
the security of nuclear prochement. They say such Finding out what's hap-
weapons that the nation networks have been diffi- pening with Kim is impor-
has repeatedly threatened cult to rebuild. tant because incapacity
to use on its neighbors and South Korea's government at the top could lead to a
the United States. has repeatedly played bogged-down decision-
It's a problem that out- down unconfirmed media making process that could
side nations have faced reports that Kim is in fragile boost the hard-liners who
for decades. Gathering health following heart sur- emerged following the
intelligence on perhaps gery, saying it has detected collapse of Kim's second
the world's most secretive, no unusual activity in North summit with U.S. President
suspicious and difficult-to- Korea or any emergency Donald Trump in February
read country is incredibly preparation by its ruling last year. The Americans at
difficult. And there's prob- Workers' Party, military and that summit rejected North
ably nothing North Korea Cabinet. Without specify- Korean demands for major
guards more closely than ing its information sources, sanctions relief in exchange
information on Kim's health, South Korea's presidential In this Sept. 19, 2018, file photo, Kim Yo Jong, right, sister of for a partial surrender of the
which is only likely shared office said it believes Kim is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, helps Kim sign joint statement North's nuclear capabilities.
among a small portion of handling state affairs nor- following the summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at The National Intelligence
the elite, including his pow- mally at an unspecified site the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in Pyongyang, North Korea. Service, Seoul's spy agen-
erful sister, Kim Yo Jong. outside the capital, Pyong- Associated Press. cy, has said it can't confirm
At the heart of the intelli- yang. saying he's fine ... our gov- April 11, when he presided whether Kim had surgery. If
gence shortcomings about However unfounded the ernment should prepare for over a meeting discuss- Kim emerges alive and well
North Korea is its extremely fears may be, some experts various chaotic scenarios," ing coronavirus prevention in state media, supervis-
closed nature. But there is say South Korea, as well as said Nam, a former direc- and electing his sister as ing a weapons test or cel-
also plenty of blame lev- its regional neighbors and tor of a think tank affiliated an alternate member of ebrating the construction
eled in South Korea at ef- ally Washington, must be- with South Korea's main spy the political bureau of the of one of his many resort
forts there. Supporters of gin preparing for high-level agency. "He could very ruling Workers' Party. State projects, he would join past
South Korea's current lib- instability that could come well be OK and reappear media have since report- North Korean officials who
eral government, which if Kim is sidelined by health in North Korean state me- ed that he sent greetings were incorrectly reported
remains eager for inter- problems or even dies. That dia again, but considering to Syrian President Bashar incapacitated by outside
Korean engagement, la- could include North Kore- his weight and worsening Assad, Cuban President media.
ment the previous decade an refugees flooding South shape, the risks linked to his Miguel Díaz-Canel and The 1986 Chosun Ilbo story
of conservative rule there, Korea or China, or military health will sharply increase South African President was initially backed by a
when exchanges between hard-liners letting loose nu- as he gets older." Kim is Cyril Ramaphosa.. South Korean military state-
diplomats, government clear weapons. overweight, reportedly On Monday, the official ment that North Korea had
and business leaders, aid While those are worst-case smokes heavily and has Rodong Sinmun newspa- announced the demise of
groups and others stopped scenarios, planning for other health problems. per said Kim sent a mes- its founder over loudspeak-
under hard-line polices to- them is crucial because no- Questions about Kim's sage of gratitude to work- ers at the mine-strewn land
ward North Korea's nuclear body knows for sure what's health have been raised ers building tourist facilities border between the rival
ambitions. This, they say, happening inside North Ko- since he missed the birth- in the coastal town of Won- nations. But just hours af-
deprived spies of high- rea, said Nam Sung-wook, day celebration of his late san, which is where some ter the newspaper was
quality information sources. a North Korea expert at grandfather and state speculate he is staying. No released, Kim Il Sung, the
Conservatives, on the oth- Seoul's Korea University founder Kim Il Sung on April photos of him were pub- grandfather of the cur-
er hand, blame liberals for who termed the situation 15, the country's most im- lished. rent leader, appeared
supposedly downsizing es- the "Achilles' heel of inter- portant holiday. South Korean intelligence at Pyongyang's airport to
pionage operations while national politics in North- Kim, who is in his mid-30s, combined with North Kore- greet a visiting Mongolian
pursuing inter-Korean rap- east Asia." "Instead of just was last seen in public on an state media reports sug- delegation. q