North Korea’s Silence Keeps Rumor Mill Churning

New York Times: “Depending on the news outlet or social media post, Mr. Kim, believed to be 36, is recuperating after a minor health issue like a sprained ankle, or he is ‘in grave danger’ after a heart surgery. Or he has become ‘brain dead’ or is in a ‘vegetative state’ after a heart-valve surgery gone wrong at the hands of a nervous North Korean surgeon or one of the doctors China dispatched to treat him. Or Mr. Kim is grounded with Covid-19. Where did he get it? From one of those Chinese doctors.”

“One rumor circulating in South Korean messaging apps claims that after French doctors could not wake Mr. Kim from his ‘coma,’ Kim Pyong-il, a half brother of Mr. Kim’s late father, seized power with the help of pro-Chinese elites in Pyongyang, the North’s capital. It goes on to say that Mr. Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, has been detained while Beijing is secretly bargaining with Washington over the future of North Korea and its nuclear weapons.”