Home ›› 25 Apr 2020 ›› World Biz
China sent a team to North Korea including medical experts to check on the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to three people familiar with the situation.
The trip by the Chinese physicians and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean ruler. It was not immediately clear what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Kim’s health.
A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist party’s international liaison department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday.
The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea. The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
Daily NK, a Seoul-based website, reported earlier this week that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on 12 April. It cited one unnamed source in North Korea.
South Korean government officials and a Chinese official with the liaison department challenged subsequent reports suggesting that Kim was in grave danger after surgery. South Korean officials said they had detected no signs of unusual activity in North Korea.
On Thursday even the US President Donald Trump played down earlier reports that Kim was gravely ill. “I think the report was incorrect,” Trump told reporters.
However, he declined to disclose if he had been in touch with North Korean officials.
(Source: The Guardian)
