“Our government position is firm,” said Moon’s special adviser on national security Moon Chung-in, in an interview CNN on Sunday. “Kim Jong Un is alive and well.”

The adviser said that Kim had been staying in Wonsan — a resort town in the country’s east — since April 13, adding: “No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”

Conjecture about Kim’s health has grown since his conspicuous absence from the April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North’s founder — the most important day in the country’s political calendar.

Kim has not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers’ Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the following day state media reported him inspecting fighter jets at an air defence unit.

His absence has unleashed a series of unconfirmed media reports over his condition, which officials in Seoul previously poured cold water on.

“We have nothing to confirm and no special movement has been detected inside North Korea as of now,” the South’s presidential office said in a statement last week.

Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, has reported Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure earlier this month.

Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim, who is in his mid-30s, had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.

The post Kim Jong Un ‘alive and well’: Seoul appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement three launches took place from an eastern coastal town in the North’s South Hamgyong province. The projectiles flew for 200 kilometres (124 miles) at a height of 50 (31 miles) km.

“The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness,” it added.

A spokesman at Japan’s defence ministry said North Korea launched what appeared to be “ballistic missile(s)”, adding there had been no indication of anything coming down in Tokyo’s territory or exclusive economic zone. “Considering the repeated launches of ballistic missiles up to now it is a serious issue affecting the international community, including Japan.”

In the past 10 days, North Korea has said leader Kim Jong Un supervised two rounds of live-fire artillery exercises in its first weapons tests since late November. Kim had entered the new year with a promise to bolster his nuclear deterrent and not to be bound by a major weapons test moratorium amid diplomatic deadlock aimed at convincing Kim to abandon his nuclear programme.

South Korea and some European countries protested against the second North Korea drills, which they believe involved ballistic missile launches in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea has lashed out at the outside criticism, saying it has the right to conduct military drills in the face of United States and South Korean forces on its doorstep.

The Security Council did not issue any statement after discussing North Korea’s March 1 launches last week, but five European members condemned what they called “provocative actions.”

The post N Korea fires projectiles appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.