Contrary to a CNN report claiming North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un had his aunt Kim Kyong Hui poisoned, a Daily NK source in Pyongyang reported that she is alive and receiving treatment for a nerve disorder in the North’s capital, asserting that her overall health is on the path to recovery.
“Kim Kyong Hui is going back and forth between Sobaeksu Villa in Samjiyon, Yangkang Province and Pyongyang’s Ponghwa Treatment Center to receive treatment and recuperate; she is not dead,” the source told Daily NK on Tuesday, adding that a high-level official in the Central Party confirmed that she is still very much alive.
“(Following the execution of Jang Song Thaek) her preexisting nerve disorder grew much worse, so she has received a great deal of subsequent treatment. During this process, Kim Jong Un even personally asked the doctors to treat her well,” the source said. “Kim has made personal visits to the treatment center to check in with the medical staff to track her recovery.”
Claims from a defector CNN interviewed claiming the aunt was poisoned by the leader are “outrageous” the source said, given his excessive displays of affection for his aunt; so much so, in fact, the young leader's love for this aunt has garnered attention from those around him.
“Seeing this strong bond, high-level Party cadres make frequent comments among themselves about how Kim Jong Un and Kim Kyong Hui still communicate well,” she said. “Some have speculated the aunt may still be wielding influence from behind the scenes, but this role would be significantly diminished due to her prolonged treatment and the general instability of her health.”
Following the execution of her husband Jang Song Thaek, ordered by his nephew Kim Jong Un in December 2013, Kim Kyong Hui is said to have become further dependent on alcohol and prone to nervous breakdowns. “Not only that, I’ve heard a lot of morphine has been used as part of her treatment, so a lot of times her state of mind is really abnormal,” she said. This effect, according to the source, is at times so pronounced that Kim Kyong Hui appears “totally removed” from reality.
As to reason why the aunt has yet to step into the public eye, despite marked improvements in her health, the source cited Jang’s death as the primary factor involved.
“Here in the North, people don’t think of you individually; you’re lumped in with your family. It’s pretty much general opinion among Party cadres that she shouldn’t (be active) since her husband was deemed a traitor by the state,” she explained. “They would be worried that by being active she would create confusion among the public.”
“Kim Kyong Hui herself has also probably determined that she would taint Kim Jong Un’s reputation and damage his leadership. That’s why she’s not showing herself,” she went on to assert.
A source in North Pyongan Province also weighed in on the situation, surmising that Kim Kyong Hui may still find it hard to personally meet with the man that ordered the execution of her husband, their love and care for one another notwithstanding.
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