China sends team including medical experts to advise on North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, sources say

Delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing on Thursday amid reports of leader’s poor health

News of visit comes after Donald Trump, South Korean government play down suggestions Kim is seriously ill

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A South Korean source said on Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was alive and would likely make an appearance soon. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:36am, 25 Apr 2020Updated: 11:36am, 25 Apr 2020

China has sent a team including medical experts to North Korea to advise on the hermit state’s leader Kim Jong-un, according to three people familiar with the situation.

The trip comes amid conflicting reports about Kim’s health, but Reuters was unable to immediately determine what it signalled.

A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with North Korea.

The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

The liaison department could not be reached for comment late on Friday. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Friday.

Daily NK, a website based in the South Korean capital Seoul, reported earlier in the week that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12. It cited one unnamed source in North Korea.