Agency claims to solve mystery of Kim Jong Un
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 aide said the spy agency also told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that the cyst could recur because of Kim’s obesity, smoking, and heavy public schedule.
After last being seen in state media on September 3, Kim reappeared on October 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.
