The Kim Jong Un death watch saga takes yet another strange turn
Last night we saw Reuter’s report that China had sent doctors to try to save Kim Jong Un’s life, and we saw a report from a Hong Kong based news outlet that Kim Jong Un is dead. Those could both potentially be true, depending on the timing. But now things have gotten even more confusing.
TMZ posted an article today with a headline that said Kim Jong Un was “reportedly dead.” TMZ has a history of being correct when it reports that public figures have died, as it ostensibly gets the information from its own inside sources. In this instance, however, TMZ is merely quoting the Hong Kong based news outlet from last night, and isn’t citing any inside sources of its own – meaning this isn’t confirmation of anything beyond what we already had to work with.
So where does this leave us? Any time there’s a life-and-death health mystery about a public figure, it sets off this kind of confusing and potentially conflicting reporting. Throw in the inherent secrecy and dishonesty of the current regimes in North Korea and China, and there’s no real basis for knowing what to believe. But consider what Palmer Report explained last night:
Here’s one important thing to consider. These reports of Kim Jong Un being near death make him look weak. In fact these reports make him weak, whether he’s ill or not, because his perceived illness makes him vulnerable to palace intrigue or outside attack. If Kim were able to get in front of a TV camera right now and prove that he’s in good shape, it’s nearly a given that he’d be doing it, if only to send a signal to would-be aggressors. The logical conclusion is that, at the least, he’s in bad enough shape that he can’t fake it in front of a camera. As to whether he’s alive or dead, well, it’ll come out eventually.
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