Why the Kim Jong Un rumors deserve skepticism

Of course, all of this begs another question: Why, if Kim is OK, wouldn’t the North Koreans simply come out and say so?

Well, there are a few possible reasons.

For a start, the dynastic regime is always exceptionally guarded about Kim’s health. This includes situations where Kim is mildly ill, such as with the reported case of gout he suffered in 2014. Pyongyang wants to purvey the image of a leader who is in total control, a la Big Brother from 1984. Not the image of a fat guy who can’t handle his cheese.

There’s also the possibility that Kim simply doesn’t care about the speculation. As the superb 38 North website observes, Kim appears to be at one of his luxury retreats on North Korea’s east coast. Perhaps he’s overlooking the Pacific Ocean, enjoying fine dining, and laughing at Twitter’s explosion (Kim pays close personal attention to online news and speculation).