两名美国高级情报官员告诉记者，尽管媒体报道猜测朝鲜最高领导人金正恩健康状况不佳，但美国情报部门没有证据表明他情况严重新闻周刊。
朝鲜统治者未能出席今年4月15日纪念其祖父、已故领导人金日成的国庆庆祝活动，这引发了人们对其健康状况的猜测，尤其是在一场朝鲜声称尚未波及该国的全球流行病的背景下。金正恩之前已经从聚光灯下消失了，特别是在2014年长达一个多月的缺席期间，也引发了关于他健康状况的谣言。然而，这种缺席被国际媒体认为是奇怪的。
总部设在韩国的在线报纸《朝鲜日报》(Daily NK)周一首次报道称，金正恩于4月12日接受了心血管手术，目前正在朝鲜东部平山省金刚山(Mount Kumgang)的一栋别墅里接受康复治疗。朝鲜日报主要是由朝鲜叛逃者经营的，接受美国国会相关的国家民主捐赠基金等机构的资助。美国有线电视新闻网随后援引一名未透露姓名的美国官员的话说，美国正在监控情报，这位年轻的统治者可能在一个程序后处于严重的危险之中。
一名美国高级情报官员告诉记者新闻周刊周二，情报机构“目前没有支持证据”关于金正恩健康处于危险中的报道,“但仍在继续监控来自地区合作伙伴和韩国媒体的报道。”
这位官员告诉新闻周刊朝鲜统治者生命的最后证明是在4月18日，并表示他们不能明确评论他目前的健康状况。
周二早些时候，蓝屋表示，它没有监测到与金正恩健康有关的异常活动，该国似乎在照常处理自己的事务，这与韩联社此前援引的未具名韩国官员的说法一致。中国外交部发言人耿爽星期二说，他知道有关朝鲜领导人健康的报道，但是对这些报道的来源提出质疑。俄罗斯总统发言人佩斯科夫对官方媒体说，克里姆林宫正在等待官方消息。
白宫国家安全顾问罗伯特·奥布赖恩(Robert Oo ' brien)周二对记者表示，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统的政府正在“非常密切地监控这些关于朝鲜领导人健康状况的报道”，但他指出，朝鲜“在提供包括金正恩健康状况在内的许多信息方面非常吝啬”
众所周知，朝鲜对进出该国的信息保持严格控制，这使得获取或核实非政府精心策划的媒体变得困难。美国高级情报官员告诉记者新闻周刊由于缺乏来自朝鲜的报道，很难确切地说出金正恩的状况，但声明“他们的军事地位保持不变，这是最大的指标。”在朝鲜这样一个高度军事化的社会，武装力量的活动往往预示着重大事件。
4月12日，朝鲜中央通讯社分享了这张照片，照片中，朝鲜最高领导人金正恩与官员们并肩走在朝鲜人民军空军和防空部队西师的战机中间。
金正恩在2011年他的父亲金正日去世后接任国家元首，他的父亲于1994年去世。他被认为是世界上最年轻的世界领袖当他27岁接手时。
专家和观察家们多年来一直在猜测，如果金正恩去世会发生什么，因为他似乎还没有建立一个明确的继承线。
当被问及可能的继任者时，奥布莱恩周二表示，“基本假设是可能是家族中的某个人，但现在谈论这个还为时过早，因为我们不知道金主席目前的状况，我们将不得不看看情况如何。”
前中央情报局官员、多边朝鲜谈判特使约瑟夫·德特拉尼(Joseph DeTrani)现在是位于阿灵顿的情报和国家安全联盟智囊团的负责人，他说，金正恩的妹妹最近崛起，金正日，对维护金朝的延续至关重要。
“在4月的党内会议上，他提拔他的妹妹金仲翀为政治局候补委员。因此，至少在名义上，金氏家族仍将被公众视为掌权者，”德特拉尼告诉记者新闻周刊。
金正恩的另一个同父异母的兄弟，一个名叫金正哲的哥哥，基本上没有受到关注。据朝鲜领导人观察博客报道，这三人在瑞士相对隔离的环境下一起长大，他们还有三个不太为人知的同父异母姐姐，金惠敬、金宋淳和金索尔宋——后者曾担任过政治职务——还有一个同父异母的哥哥，金正男。2017年，他在马来西亚吉隆坡国际机场被毒死。
没有确凿的证据证明金正恩是否有孩子。尽管外界媒体报道，以及前NBA球星丹尼斯·罗德曼自己的报道，都声称金正恩至少有一个孩子，但官方还没有宣布这个秘密统治家族的未来。
在他的任期内，他通过增加更大、更先进的核武器和远程导弹试验来加速他的国家的军事实力。金正恩还对其家族前辈建立的僵化的威权体制做了一些小的改变，尽管受到国际制裁，但还是扩张了经济正式确立他作为国家元首的角色。
他也是第一个向公众正式介绍他的配偶李索尔·朱的人，并且稳步提升了金正云，最近几周他甚至代表他发表了声明。除了外交部第一副部长崔善慧等几个关键人物之外，朝鲜很少任命女性担任重要职位。
金正恩在外交方面也取得了长足的进步，让这个出了名的难以捉摸的国家变得更加容易接近，并受到了广泛的侵犯人权指控。他会见了韩国总统文在寅、中国习近平主席和俄罗斯总统普京。他还成为第一位会见美国现任总统唐纳德·特朗普的朝鲜领导人。这两人最初在2017年不和，但在第二年改变了路线，举行了三次历史性会议中的第一次，这三次会议似乎为埋葬数十年的相互敌意奠定了基础，因为他们达成了一项有望实现无核化的和平协议。
周二晚些时候，特朗普也在白宫每日新闻发布会上对围绕金正恩健康的猜测发表评论，告诉记者他“和他关系非常好，我只能说我祝他一切顺利。”
4月15日，朝鲜已故领导人金日成诞辰108周年之际，人们在已故领导人金日成和金正日的雕像前鞠躬。这一天被称为“太阳日”。朝鲜最高领导人金正恩缺席此次活动，引发了人们对他健康状况的大量猜测。
然而，缺乏进展以及美国不愿意在无核化之前解除制裁最终侵蚀了初露头角的美朝关系，特朗普政府无视金正恩方面在年底前达成协议的最后期限。金正恩在2020年初警告说，他不再为自己暂停核试验和远程试验的承诺所束缚，并发誓将首次推出一种“新的战略武器”，但这种武器尚未公开。
然而到了4月份,金正日代表金正恩向特朗普发出了感谢信息，感谢他提供援助帮助朝鲜对抗COVID-19。朝鲜外交部周日否认金正恩方面发出了后续消息，此前特朗普在上周末表示，他“收到了这位领导人的一封好信”。
朝鲜否认该国有一例新型冠状病毒感染病例，这种疾病已在全球范围内感染了大约250万人，但一些报道援引匿名公民的话说，这种病毒已经在朝鲜传播，这引起了国际社会的关注。
一位国务院发言人说:“面对COVID流行病对全球健康和福利造成的巨大威胁，美国已经迅速批准美国和国际援助及卫生组织的援助，以对抗和遏制冠状病毒在朝鲜的传播。”讲述新闻周刊星期一。
这位发言人补充说:“此外，我们在过去一年中领导了联合国加快处理和批准人道主义援助豁免的努力，以解决朝鲜更广泛的健康问题。”。“我们还积极支持并在联合国制裁制度中确立了与朝鲜相关的语言，允许与人道主义相关的银行交易。”
这篇文章已经更新，加入了唐纳德·特朗普总统的评论。
U.S. INTELLIGENCE HAS NO EVIDENCE NORTH KOREA'S KIM JONG UN IS IN GRAVE CONDITION, OFFICIALS SAY
The U.S. intelligence community has no evidence that North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un is in grave condition despite media reports that speculated about his failing health, two senior U.S. intelligence officials told Newsweek.
The North Korean ruler's failure to attend this year's April 15 national Day of the Sun celebrations commemorating his grandfather, late leader Kim Il Sung, raised speculation about his well-being, especially amid a global pandemic that North Korea said claimed has not hit the country. Kim Jong Un has disappeared from the spotlight before, notably during an absence in 2014 that lasted longer than a month and also prompted rumors regarding his health. However, this absence has been noted by international media as odd.
The South Korea-based online newspaper Daily NK, a largely North Korean defector-run outlet that receives funding from the U.S. Congress-linked National Endowment for Democracy among other institutions, first reported Monday that Kim Jong Un had undergone cardiovascular surgery on April 12 and was recovering at a villa at Mount Kumgang in eastern Hyangsan province, citing an anonymous source within North Korea. CNN later cited an unnamed U.S. official saying the United States was monitoring intelligence that the young ruler could be in grave danger following a procedure.
One senior U.S. intelligence official told Newsweek Tuesday that the intelligence community "currently has no supporting evidence" about reports that Kim Jong Un's health was in danger, "but is continuing to monitor reports from regional partners and Korean press."
The official told Newsweek that the last proof of life for the North Korean ruler was on April 18 and said they could not definitely comment on his current state of health.
The Blue House said earlier Tuesday it had monitored no unusual activity regarding Kim Jong Un's health and that the country appeared to be conducting its affairs as usual, echoing unnamed South Korean officials previously cited by the Yonhap News Agency. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Tuesday he was aware of reports concerning the North Korean ruler's health, but questioned their sourcing and Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told state media that the Kremlin was awaiting official information.
White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's administration was "monitoring these reports very closely" regarding the North Korean leader's health, but noted that North Korea "was parsimonious about the information they provide about many things, including the health of Kim Jong Un."
North Korea is known for maintaining a tight grip on the flow of information to and from the country, making it difficult to obtain or verify media not closely curated by the government. The senior U.S. intelligence official told Newsweek that it was "hard to tell" exactly the state of Kim Jong Un's condition due to a lack of reporting coming out of North Korea, but stated that "their military status remains the same, which is the biggest indicator." In a heavily-militarized society like North Korea, the activity of the armed forces often signals major events.
North Korea supreme leader Kim Jong Un walks alongside officials among warplanes of the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Aircraft Force's western division in this photo shared April 12 by the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Jong Un assumed the head of the country after the 2011 death of his father, Kim Jong Il, who inherited the position from his own father, who died in 1994. He was believed to be the world's youngest world leader when he took over at the suspected age of 27.
Experts and observers have for years speculated about what would happen if Kim Jong Un died because he appeared to have not established a clear line of succession.
When asked about possible successors, O'Brien said Tuesday the "basic assumption would be maybe it would be someone in the family, but again it's too early to talk about that because we don't know what condition Chairman Kim is in and we'll have to see how it plays out."
Joseph DeTrani, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer and special envoy for multilateral North Korea talks who now serves as head of the Arlington-based Intelligence and National Security Alliance think tank, said the recent rise of Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, was important to maintaining the continuity of the Kim dynasty.
"At the April Party meeting, he promoted his sister, Kim Yo Jong, to the Politburo as an alternate member. So, the Kim family, at least in name, will still be viewed by the public as in command," DeTrani told Newsweek.
Kim Jong Un's other full sibling, an older brother named Kim Jong Chol, has largely remained out of the spotlight. The trio, raised together in relative isolation in Switzerland, also have three, lesser-known elder half-sisters, Kim Hye Kyong, Kim Chun Song and Kim Sol Song—the latter of which has held political positions—as well as an older half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, according to the North Korea Leadership Watch blog. He was killed by poison at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 2017.
There is no conclusive evidence about whether or not Kim Jong Un has children. Although outside media reports, as well as former NBA star Dennis Rodman's own reports, have claimed Kim Jong Un has at least one child, no official announcements have been made regarding the future of the secretive ruling family.
During his tenure, he accelerated his country's military might by adding bigger, more advanced nuclear and long-range missile tests to its arsenal. Kim Jong Un also made only minor alterations to the rigid authoritarian system established by his familial predecessors, expanding the economy in spite of international sanctions and formalizing his role as head of state.
He was also the first in his position to officially introduce his spouse, Ri Sol Ju, to the public and steadily elevated Kim Yo Jong, who went as far as to make statements on his behalf in recent weeks. Aside from several key figures such as First Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui, women have rarely been appointed to prominent positions in North Korea.
Kim Jong Un has made strides with diplomacy, as well, projecting a more accessible of a notoriously elusive state subject to widespread accusations of human rights abuses. He held meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also became the first head of North Korea to meet a sitting U.S. president, President Donald Trump. The two initially feuded in 2017, but changed course the next year, setting up the first of what would be three historic meetings that appeared to lay the groundwork for burying decades of mutual hostility as they built a prospective denuclearization-for-peace deal.
Later Tuesday, Trump too commented on speculation surrounding Kim Jong Un's health during a daily White House press briefing, telling reporters he's "had a very good relationship with him, I can only say I wish him well."
People bow before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on the occasion of the 108th birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, known as the "Day of the Sun," in Pyongyang on April 15. North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un's absence from the event, prompted mass speculation about his health.KIM WON JIN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A lack of progress and a U.S. unwillingness to lift sanctions ahead of denuclearization ultimately eroded budding U.S.-North Korea ties, however, and the Trump administration ignored Kim Jong Un's year-end deadline to cut a deal. Kim Jong Un warned at the beginning of 2020 that he no longer felt bound by his promise to pause nuclear and longer-range tests and vowed to debut a "new strategic weapon" that has yet to be unveiled.
Yet by April, Kim Yo Jong issued a message of thanks to Trump on Kim Jong Un's behalf for offering assistance to help North Korea battle COVID-19. The North Korean Foreign Ministry on Sunday denied that Kim Jong Un had sent a follow-up message after Trump said over the weekend that he had "received a nice note" from the leader.
North Korea has denied that the country has a single case of the novel coronavirus disease that has infected roughly two and a half million people worldwide, but some reports have cited anonymous citizens claiming the virus had already spread in North Korea, prompting international concern.
"In the face of the extraordinary threat to global health and welfare caused by the COVID pandemic, the United States has expeditiously facilitated the approval of assistance from U.S. and international aid and health organizations to counter and contain the spread of coronavirus in the DPRK," a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek Monday.
"Moreover, we've led the UN effort over the last year to expedite processing and approval of exemptions related to humanitarian aid addressing broader health concerns in the DPRK," the spokesperson added. "We have also actively supported and established in the UN sanctions regime related to the DPRK language that allows for humanitarian-related bank transactions."
This article has been updated to include remarks by President Donald Trump.
