The US President has cast doubt on a meeting with the North Korean ruler amid unverified rumours the 42-year-old dictator has died after suffering a brain haemorrhage
Donald Trump has cast doubt over a potential face-to-face summit with North Korean tyrant Kim Jong un next month, as wild rumours sweep the globe that the dictator is dead. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, the US President poured cold water on expectations of a high-stakes meeting during his upcoming trip to China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen next month.
When pressed by a reporter on whether he expected to sit down with the North Korean leader, Trump delivered a non-committal response. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said before adding: “I’m not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting.”
Despite playing down the likelihood of an immediate sit-down, Trump was quick to boast about his warm personal bond with the rogue ruler.
“I get along with him very well,” Trump said. “But my relationship with Kim Jong-un is very good.” His hesitation comes against a backdrop of claims that the 42-year-old North Korean despot has died.
Rumours have been swirling that Kim fell into a deadly coma over the weekend following a catastrophic brain haemorrhage.
The bizarre claims emerged after Chinese politician Wanjun Xie, Chairman of the China Democracy Party, publicly alleged that brain specialists were flown into Pyongyang in a desperate bid to save the supreme leader’s life.
Xie said: “It is rumoured that recently, Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Supreme Leader of North Korea, suffered a severe cerebral haemorrhage and fell into a coma.
“Although a team of medical experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital was dispatched to North Korea to assist in his treatment, the poor medical conditions in North Korea forced Kim Jong-un to be transferred to Peking Union Medical College Hospital for emergency treatment.
“However, due to the severity of his condition and the fact that the optimal window for treatment had passed, Kim Jong-un succumbed to his injuries and died. His body has been secretly transported back to North Korea, and the news of his death is being kept under wraps.”
Xie later claimed that 9,000 Chinese Communist Party troops had been secretly scrambled to Pyongyang to support Kim’s young daughter, Kim Ju-ae, amidst fears of an impending civil war.
According to Xie, China’s Northern Theater Command has been put on high alert, with all military leave cancelled and troops recalled to barracks in preparation for chaos on the border.
The allegations have not been verified and North Korea’s secretive regime has since attempted to quash the death rumours by releasing a series of “proof of life” pictures.
Official state media outlet KCNA published photographs on Monday purporting to show Kim alive and well, casually inspecting children’s shoes and women’s winter coats at a local clothing exhibition.