Kim Jong-un’s train spotted near luxury coastal resort amid rumours of leader’s ill health, satellite images suggest

China has sent a team including medical experts to North Korea to advise on leader, sources say

A train thought to belong to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been parked at his compound on the country’s east coast since last week, satellite imagery shows, while his unusual absence from public life continues.

The photos appear to confirm South Korean government intelligence that Mr Kim is staying outside the capital, Pyongyang, and the North Korean regime has done nothing to quash suspicions the leader is seriously ill.

Two weeks ago, for the first time since assuming power in 2011, Mr Kim missed one of the country’s most important dates, an annual parade commemorating his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

The satellite photos released by 38 North, a website specialising in North Korea studies, show the train has been parked at the Leadership railway station servicing Mr Kim’s Wonsan compound since at least Tuesday.

The luxury Wonsan complex includes nine large guesthouses, a recreation centre, a protected port, a shooting range and a covered dock believed to house his yacht.

Reuters reported that China has dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on Mr Kim, according to three people familiar with the situation.

Mr Kim’s health is watched closely because it’s feared the serious illness or death of a leader venerated passionately by millions of citizens could cause instability in the impoverished, nuclear-armed country.

Last week Donald Trump said he wished his North Korean counterpart well after claims he was seriously ill following heart surgery. The US president declined to say whether he had been in touch with North Korean officials, as he downplayed reports that Mr Kim was ill.

North Korea’s state media remain silent about the outside speculation on Mr Kim’s health. On Saturday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported that Mr Kim had received a message of greeting from the chairman of the Russian Communist Party.

Satellite images of the station complex

(via REUTERS)

But Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that reports on North Korea, cited an unnamed source in North Korea on Monday as saying that Mr Kim, who is believed to be 36, had undergone medical treatment in Hyangsan, north of Pyongyang. It said he was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on 12 April.

Speculation about his health has been fanned by his heavy smoking, apparent weight gain and family history of heart problems.

This is not the first time that Mr Kim has vanished from the public eye, and past absences in state media dispatches have also triggered speculation about his health. In 2014, state media did not report any public activities for him for about six weeks, before he reappeared with a cane. South Korea’s spy agency said later that he had a cyst removed from his ankle.

This time, Seoul has repeatedly indicated that there have been no signs of health problems, and experts in South Korea have downplayed speculation that Mr Kim is seriously ill.

Danny Russel, a US former National Security Council director and assistant secretary of state for Asia, cautioned that false rumours have abounded for years about Mr Kim, his father, Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather.

“While serving in government I was on the receiving end of multiple intelligence reports about alleged accidents, illnesses and assassination attempts against North Korean leaders — only to have them reappear in public,” he said.

And 38 North stated: “The train’s presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast.”

The North Korean regime is highly secretive, and journalists have been unable to confirm that the train was Kim Jong-un’s.

State media last reported on his whereabouts when he presided over a meeting on 11 April.

The country has never announced who would follow Mr Kim, and with no details known about his young children, analysts say his sister and loyalists could form a regency until a successor is old enough to take over.

Additional reporting by agencies