North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in ‘grave danger’ after surgery; South Korean currency tumbles: Report

Seoul/Washington: South Korean currency Won tumbled sharply on Tuesday (April 21, 2020) after US media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in grave danger after a surgery. The South Korean government said that it was looking into US media reports saying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was in fragile condition after surgery.

Officials from South Korea's Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service said they couldn't immediately confirm the CNN report which cited an anonymous US official who said Kim was in “grave danger” after an unspecified surgery.

The report came after the US media reported that Kim has been receiving medical treatment at a villa in the resort county of Hyangsan, outside of Pyongyang, following a cardiovascular procedure.

Meanwhile, the Korean Won fell 1.54% to trade at 1,239.35 per dollar on Tuesday. The South Korean markets also saw sizable declines, with the Kospi down 2.62% while the Kosdaq index fell 3.47%. Shares of defense firm Victek skyrocketed 29.66% while North Korea exposed stocks Hanil Hyundai Cement and Hyundai Elevator plummeted more than 6% each.

Speculation has been rife about what happened to Kim since he apparently skipped an annual visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the occasion of the 108th birthday of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung on April 15.

Kim was last seen on April 11 in state media reports presiding over a political bureau meeting of the ruling Workers` Party, calling for "strict national countermeasures to thoroughly check the infiltration of the virus".

Kim took over as leader after his father and late leader Kim Jong-il died in late 2011.

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.