The North Korean propaganda website Meari published an article condemning South Korea’s free press for unspecified “fake news” on Tuesday following weeks of speculation over the health of communist dictator Kim Jong-un.
Kim did not make any public appearances for weeks since April 11, notably choosing not to attend a ceremony for the “Day of the Sun,” grandfather Kim Il-sung’s birthday and North Korea’s most important holiday. His absence resulted in widespread, anonymous reports claiming that Kim had either died, become “brain dead,” been seriously injured in a missile attack, suffered a major cardiovascular health episode, or had contracted the Chinese coronavirus.
On Friday, North Korean state media published images of a man they claimed to be Kim cutting a ribbon at a ceremony celebrating the construction of a fertilizer plant. The videos and photos allegedly of Kim were the first anyone had seen of him since April 11 and appeared to confirm that he was healthy, able to walk and talk, and in command of the country.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency translated the comments in Meari, which notably did not mention Kim Jong-un himself or any of the rumors relating to his health recently.
“Fake news that has been rampant in South Korea is putting people in a state of confusion,” Meari claimed, blaming “conservative media” for much of the reporting. While conservative newspapers like Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo published some reports on Kim’s health, the most prominent reports claiming Kim was in danger came from left-wing outlets like CNN.
The state propaganda outlet claimed that South Korean media was engaged in the act of “manipulating public opinion by intentionally fabricating false facts about a specific subject or group with a view to pursuing certain political and economic objectives.” It reportedly did not identify any subject or group in particular.
Elsewhere in North Korean state media, outlets focused on the construction of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory, which Kim visited for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday. Rather than discuss Kim himself, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) hailed the “wonderful construction” of the factory.
“The scientists, technicians and builders of the country built the modern phosphatic fertilizer production base tantamount to establishing a new industrial field despite the vicious sanctions and pressure from the hostile forces and the disastrous spread of the malignant virus worldwide,” KCNA applauded on Monday, one of several regular mentions of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. North Korea claims to have identified zero cases of coronavirus despite being bordered by three of the world’s most affected countries: its origin nation, China; Russia; and South Korea.
KCNA reiterated that Kim was present this weekend at the site, claiming he “learned in detail about the construction which was in a standstill due to various bottlenecks in the early stage of the construction and saw to it that an audacious operation was unfolded to build the factory our own way to be perfect one.”
On Tuesday, Rodong Sinmun, the state newspaper, continued its usual stream of communist agitprop.
“The materialization of the dream and ideal of our people and triumphant advance of socialism depend on living our own way,” a column in the North Korean outlet read. “Even in the worst adversity in which others would be disrupted a hundred times, the red flag of socialism have been fluttering on this land generation after generation and the DPRK [North Korea] has been demonstrating its might as a great independent power, impregnable socialist fortress.”
Despite publishing significant volumes of material in the past week, the “fake news” diatribe has been the closest that North Korean state media has gotten to addressing the Kim health rumors. The gossip report that elevated discussion of Kim’s disappearance internationally appeared last month in CNN, citing anonymous sources who claimed that Kim was suffering from heart disease and was in “grave danger” after a surgical procedure. That report prompted NBC News’ Katy Tur to claim that Kim was “brain dead” on Twitter, then delete the claim.
Other reports suggested that Kim was struggling to overcome infection of the Chinese coronavirus, potentially the product of a meeting with Chinese doctors on other health issues. Yet other reports claimed that Kim had not been infected but had been exposed to the virus, necessitating quarantine. Kim could not publicly announce quarantine when the government claimed no cases of coronavirus had occurred in the country.
A report in Dong-A Ilbo also suggested, again citing anonymous sources, that Kim had been injured in a missile test and could not appear in public without revealing the injury. Two newly-elected South Korean lawmakers said, respectively, that Kim was dead or that Kim could not walk properly from a health condition. The two have since apologized profusely; media outlets who reported the other rumors have largely not done the same.
North Korea has also not remarked on a bizarre incident this weekend following Kim’s reemergence in which North Korean soldiers fired across the border into the South. South Korea reported no injuries or deaths and dismissed the incident. American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said this weekend Washington believes the shots fired to be “accidental.” Radio Free Asia (RFA) quoted some observers, however, who believed the shots to be a message that North Korea did not intend to change its hostile policies against Seoul.
Many reports indicated that Kim spent much of his absence in Wonsan, a northern port city he has invested heavily in towards making a seaside resort. Kim’s family train appeared to be in the city in satellite images, and other surveillance showed movement of Kim’s fleet of yachts there. Sunchon, where the fertilizer factory is located, is easily reachable within a day’s time from Wonsan.
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