President Trump pushed back on a report that Kim Jong Un is gravely ill — but didn’t say if he had been in contact with the North Korean leader.
“I think the report was incorrect,” the president said during Thursday’s daily White House briefing, adding that he had heard it was based on “old documents.”
On Tuesday, Trump said he might reach out to officials in the Hermit Kingdom to inquire about Kim, with whom he has been in regular contact for the past couple of years.
But the president did not say during Thursday’s briefing whether he had called to ask about the despot, who was conspicuously absent during the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung.
“We have a good relationship with North Korea, I have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un and I hope he’s OK,” Trump said.
The South Korea-based Daily NK reported Monday that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12, citing an unnamed source in North Korea, Reuters reported.
Two Seoul officials rejected a subsequent CNN report citing an unnamed American official saying the US was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in serious danger after surgery.