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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea’s gunfire across its border with South Korea was likely “accidental,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday as speculation continues about the health of the North Korean leader. Kim Jong Un.
North and South Korea exchanged fire around a rural guard post on Saturday, adding to the tension a day after North Korean state media showed Kim visiting a factory, the first report of him making a public appearance since April 11.
South Korea responded to the shooting from the other side of the DMZ, but no victims were reported.
“We believe they are accidental. The South Koreans did respond. As far as we know, there was no loss of life on either side,” Pompeo said on ABC this week.
Pompeo declined to discuss whether he knows if Kim has been seriously ill in recent weeks, fueling speculation when Kim missed a celebration of his late grandfather, but said based on video footage of him on state television in a recent event. “It seems President Kim is alive and well.”
“We know that there have been other long periods in which President Kim has also been out of public view, so it is unprecedented,” Pompeo said.
(Report by Valerie Volcovici; Tom Brown Edition)
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