South Korea maintains Kim Jong Un health rumors are untrue
Seoul: A top South Korean official said his country remains confident there have been no unusual developments in North Korea, suggesting that rumors about the possible ill health of leader Kim Jong Un are untrue.
Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul told a closed-door forum in Seoul on Sunday that South Korea has enough intelligence to confidently say that there are no unusual developments in rival North Korea that would back up speculation about Kim Jong Un's health, according to his ministry.
The minister said he would not reveal what specific intelligence led to that conclusion, but stressed that it had undergone a complex analysis.
The rumors about Kim's health began to swirl after he missed the April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Un is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and he hadn't missed the event, one of the most important in the North, since assuming power after his father Kim Jong Il's death in late 2011.
The unification minister's comments are a reiteration of earlier South Korean statements that Kim Jong Un appeared to be handling state affairs normally and that no unusual activities had been detected in North Korea. Those comments failed to dispel the rumors about Kim, which have been fed by the silence of North Korea's state media about their leader's whereabouts.
As the absolute leader of a country with a nuclear weapons program, Kim's health is matter of intense interest both regionally and globally. If something were to happen to Kim, some experts say it could lead to instability in North Korea.
South Korea's presidential office earlier said it has information that Kim has been staying out of Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, and that there had been no emergency readiness order issued by the North's military or the ruling Workers' Party that likely would have been made if Kim were truly in serious condition.
On Monday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in repeated an offer to conduct some inter-Korean cooperation projects such as a joint anti-coronavirus quarantine campaign.
Moon also said he will strive for mutual prosperity based on confidence between Chairman Kim and me and our firm resolve to (achieve) peace. Monday is the second anniversary of Moon's first summit with Kim at the Korean border village of Panmunjom.
Satellite photos released Saturday by 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, showed that a train likely belonging to Kim has been parked at his compound on the country's east coast since last week.
The train's presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country's eastern coast, 38 North said. (AP)
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
No 'VIP' involved in Ankita Bhandari murder case: Haridwar SP
Dehradun (PTI): Amid demands for a CBI probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case, Haridwar SP (Rural) Shekhar Suyal on Saturday said that no "VIP" was found involved during the investigation.
Suyal told reporters here that the person whose name came up in the chats and during questioning, was a friend of Ankita, Dharmendra Kumar alias Pradhan, a resident of Noida. He was not a VIP, the officer said.
"During the investigation, police questioning revealed that he had come to the area for some work two days before Ankita's murder and had stopped at the Vanantra Resort for a short time to have a meal," he said.
ALSO READ: Congress and NCP (SP) to contest separately in Nagpur civic polls
Suyal said that this was confirmed by the resort's records and questioning of the staff.
Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, recently released videos and audio recordings of her alleged conversations with Rathore, alleging that the 'VIP' in the Ankita Bhandari murder case is a person named 'Gattu'.
In another video, she identified Gattu as a top BJP leader in Uttarakhand.
Rathore, who was expelled from the BJP, said that his voice was generated using AI, and the audios have been widely shared with the intention of tarnishing his political image.
The Uttarakhand government on Friday said it was ready for any investigation into the Ankita Bhandari murder case "if credible evidence is presented".
Opposition leaders have demanded a CBI probe into the new allegations and the murder case, in which three people were sentenced to life imprisonment following an SIT investigation.
Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Pauri district, was allegedly murdered on September 18, 2022. The state government had constituted an SIT to investigate the case.
The court sentenced Pulkit Arya, the owner of the resort and son of a BJP leader, and two others to life imprisonment in the case.
