No sight of Kim, real risk of famine in N Korea: US secy of state
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he has caught no sight of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and is watching reports about his health, adding that there is a real risk of famine in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.
"We haven't seen him. We don't have any information to report today, we're watching it closely," Pompeo said at his weekly press conference on Wednesday amid rumors regarding Kim's health.
He also noted that Washington is closely monitoring the situation in North Korea regarding the risk of the coronavirus and also the country’s denuclearization.
There is a real risk that there will be a famine inside of North Korea too, he claimed.
"Regardless of what transpires inside of North Korea with respect to their leadership, our mission remains the same -- to deliver on that commitment that Chairman Kim made with President Trump back in Singapore, and that's the... verified denuclearization of North Korea," Pompeo reiterated.
The North Korean leader has not appeared in public since he presided over a meeting on April 11, triggering speculations about his health and raising concerns about instability of the country.
Meanwhile, South Korean officials have denied the rumors, asserting that Kim is "alive and well.”
Pompeo’s remarks come after US President Donald Trump announced that he is aware of the health status of the North Korean leader but he cannot elaborate on that.
“I hope he’s fine. I do know how he’s doing, relatively speaking,” Trump said while speaking at the White House’s Rose Garden on Monday. “We will see. You’ll probably be hearing in the not-too-distant future.”
Trump and Kim met each other three times in 2018 and 2019 in an attempt to reach a deal that would guarantee Pyongyang’s denuclearization in exchange for economic relief, yet to no avail.
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