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Associated Press Published 10:53 p.m. ET April 20, 2020 | Updated 8:19 a.m. ET April 21, 2020

Media reports say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is believed to be in "grave danger" after surgery, but officials in South Korea believe otherwise. USA TODAY

The South Korean government on Tuesday was looking into U.S. media reports saying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was in fragile condition after surgery.

Officials from South Koreas Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service said they couldnt immediately confirm the report. CNN cited an anonymous U.S. official who said Kim, believed to be 36, was in grave danger after an unspecified surgery.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is reported to be in grave condition following surgery in his home country. In this photo, people watch a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's firing projectiles with file footage of Kim at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 2, 2020.(Photo: Lee Jin-man, AP)

The Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, said it couldnt confirm another report by Daily NK, which cited anonymous sources to report that Kim was recovering from heart surgery in the capital Pyongyang and that his condition was improving.

Speculation about Kims health was raised after he missed the celebration of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Credible information about North Korea and especially its leadership is difficult to obtain and even intelligence agencies have been wrong about its inner workings in the past.

Outside governments and media have a mixed record on tracking developments among North Koreas ruling elite, made difficult by Pyongyangs stringent control of information about them.

In 2016, South Korea media quoted intelligence officials as saying Kim Jong Un had Ri Yong Gil, a former North Korean military chief, executed for corruption and other charges. But North Koreas state media months later showed that Ri was alive and in possession of several new senior posts.

Kims absence from state media often triggers speculations or rumors about his health. In 2014, Kim vanished from the public eye for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane. South Koreas spy agency said days later that he had a cyst removed from his ankle.

Kim took power upon his fathers death in December 2011 and is the third generation of his family to rule the nuclear-armed country.

Kim met President Donald Trump three times in 2018 and 2019 and had summits with other Asian leaders as he pursued diplomacy in hopes of ending crippling sanctions and getting security guarantees. But he maintained his right to a nuclear arsenal and most diplomacy has stalemated since.

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South Korea looking into reports that dictator Kim Jong Un in 'grave' condition after surgery - Courier Journal