China sent a team of doctors to consult on the status of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to three sources familiar with the situation in the DPRK, Reuters reported Saturday exclusively from Beijing and Seoul.
The Chinese officials and medical consultants traveled to North Korea amid conflicting reports about Kim Jong Un’s health, and it was not clear to the news team what the trip signaled.
“A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday,” according to two sources quoted by Reuters.
US President Donald Trump negated rumors that Kim was in a “vegetative state,” as one news outlet claimed, or that he was even gravely ill.
“I think the report was incorrect,” Trump told reporters, but declined to reveal whether he had been in touch with anyone from the Hermit Kingdom.
A source familiar with US intelligence told Reuters they had no reason to believe Kim was seriously ill or unable to eventually reappear in public. A South Korean source also said Friday that Kim was alive and was likely to make an appearance soon.