Stories now circulating within the Pyongyang commercial class have it that Kim Kyong
Hui’s health has deteriorated dramatically: that she is unable to
move and that she cannot recognize those around her. The authorities are currently attempting to keep the spread of such
rumors under control, but with limited success.
“Word that Kim Jong Eun’s aunt’s health condition is not good is
spreading through the ranks of Pyongyang market traders,” a Sinuiju-based
source newly returned from the North Korean capital told Daily NK on the 8th.
“Some traders said that Kim can’t recognize anyone
because of her dementia; they say it came directly from a Party
cadre.”
“Whenever people chat they seem to be whispering about how the aunt’s husband
[Jang Song Taek] died first so her mental condition got even worse,” the
source explained. “MPS [Ministry of Public Security] officers are always shouting at them to
disperse wherever they gather, and have been using the threat of serious
punishments for people caught spreading rumors to keep a lid on things.”
A second source, this time from the Chinese city of Dandong, just across
the Yalu River from Sinuiju, added, “The story that Kim
Kyong Hui’s health is bad keeps emerging from North Korean hard currency
earners stationed here in China. This type of chatter has been around here for a long time, but this time it seems to be more serious than before, and they reckon
she’s going to die soon.”
Meanwhile, the South Korean government says it has intelligence suggesting that Kim is now in a “critical” condition, but has offered no further details. She has not been seen in public since attending a
performance on September 9th in celebration of the founding of the
North Korean state. The rumor that her health is in a critical phase went
viral following the execution of Jang Song Taek, in particular when she failed
to appear at any of the events organized to commemorate the second anniversary
of the death of Kim Jong Il on December 17th.
Daily NK previously reported that the brutal execution
of Jang Song Taek had brought on a seizure, after which she left
North Korea for urgent treatment abroad.
