South Korea again knocks down reports Kim Jung Un in poor health

A top South Korean official says his country has “enough intelligence” to confidently say reports about North Korea leader Kim Jung Un’s grave medical condition, or death, are untrue.

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul told a closed-door forum in Seoul on Sunday that South Korea has “enough intelligence to confidently say that there are no unusual developments” in rival North Korea that would back up speculation about Kim Jong Un's health, according to his ministry

The minister declined to reveal the specific intelligence that led to that conclusion but stressed its completeness, according to the Associated Press. 

Kim having missed an April 15  commemoration of his grandfather’s 108th birthday followed by a news report last week that he was in “grave” health after heart surgery has sparked international speculation that the leader is either incapacitated or dead.

The unification minister's comments over the weekend reiterate earlier ones suggesting Kim appears to be handling state affairs normally and that there is no unusual activities.

Meanwhile, North Korea's state media has made no statements about its leader. 

The U.S. and other countries have tried to get him to halt North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons through tough sanction that have hurt its economy.

President Trump has met Kim in person three times, including a 2019 meeting in North Korea.  

“I’ll be shocked if he’s not dead or in some incapacitated state because you don’t let rumors like this go forever or go unanswered,” South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News on Saturday night. “The long-suffering North Korean people will get some relief if he is dead.”