South Korea's spy agency said Tuesday it has solved the mystery of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's 6-week public absence, which set off a frenzy of wild speculation around the world. The National Intelligence Service told legislators that a foreign doctor operated on Kim in September or October to remove a cyst from his right ankle, according to Park Byeong-seok, an aide for opposition lawmaker Shin Kyung-min. The cyst could recur because of Kim's obesity, smoking and heavy public schedule, Byeong-seok said.
After last being seen in state media on Sept. 3, Kim reappeared on Oct. 14 hobbling with a cane, but smiling and looking thinner. The speculation during his absence was particularly intense because of the Kim family's importance to impoverished, nuclear-armed North Korea. The family has ruled the country since its founding in 1948.
Lim Dae-seong, an aide to ruling party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo, who also attended the briefing, said the spy agency identified Kim's condition as tarsal tunnel syndrome. The syndrome, which is often painful, is caused by the compression of a nerve, sometimes because of a cyst. Surgery is generally seen as a last resort after other treatments are unsuccessful.
It wasn't immediately clear how the information about Kim's condition was obtained by the spy agency, which has a spotty track record of analyzing developments in opaque North Korea.
IN-DEPTH - The Associated Press
First published October 28 2014, 8:12 AM
Entities 0 Name: Kim Count: 6 1 Name: North Korea Count: 2 2 Name: Lim Dae-seong Count: 1 3 Name: Shin Kyung-min Count: 1 4 Name: Associated Press First Count: 1 5 Name: Lee Cheol-woo Count: 1 6 Name: Kim Jong Un Count: 1 7 Name: National Intelligence Service Count: 1 8 Name: South Korea Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1pRcNzt Title: Satellite lights study shows sanctions against North Korea create urban-rural divide, Stanford scholar says Description: jensowagner/Wikimedia Commons The North Korean regime has adjusted to international sanctions by shifting that economic pain away from cities to the countryside, new Stanford research using satellite night lights data shows. U.S.
