North Korea – The is increasing uncertainty in for North Koreans as residents from the capital have resorted to panic-buying amid reports that the controversial leader Kim Jong Un is gravely ill or dead, according to a report.
Store shelves in Pyongyang were being cleaned out of everything from liquor to laundry detergent, canned fish to cigarettes in recent days — as conflicting reports continue to surface about the portly dictator’s possible demise, the Washington Post wrote Sunday.
Helicopters have also been flying low over the capital, and trains in North Korea and northern China “have been disrupted,” the outlet reported.
Speculation that Kim was gravely ill or dead was fueled by his notable absence from a highly touted celebration of the republic’s 88th anniversary — and subsequent reports over the weekend that the leader’s train had been at a standstill for days.
Despite an assertion from South Korean leaders Sunday that Kim was “alive and well,” his fate remains uncertain.
On Saturday, Sen. Lindsay Graham told Fox News host Jeanine Pirro he would be “shocked” if Kim was still alive, given his unusual disappearance in recent days.
Kim did a similar disappearing act in 2014 when he went several weeks without being seen, sparking rumors of a military coup. When he reemerged officials reported that he had been recovering from surgery.
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