PublishedMay 23, 2022, 12:59 p.m.
The North Korean leader attended the funeral on Sunday of Field Marshal Hyon Chol Hae, who is believed to have played a crucial role in grooming him to lead the country.
The North Korean president is very saddened, according to the North Korean agency KCNA.
AFP
Kim Jong-un has lost a loved one. The North Korean leader attended the funeral of Field Marshal Hyon Chol Hae on Sunday. He himself carried the coffin of this senior officer who had been his mentor, state media reported on Monday. Marshal Hyon was said to have played a crucial role in preparing the young Kim Jong-un to lead North Korea before the death in 2011 of his father Kim Jong-il, to whom he was close.
North Korean news agency KCNA released photos of Kim carrying the Marshal’s coffin with other regime officials. The leader was “hardly suppressing his grief following this great loss,” KCNA said. After which, he “spread earth on the remains” of the senior officer “whom he respected deeply and cherished very much”. Kim Jong-un attended the funeral without a mask, as North Korea is currently experiencing an outbreak of Covid-19.
An epidemic “under control”
A total of 167,650 new cases of “fever”, as authorities call it, were recorded on Monday, down sharply from the peak of some 390,000 cases recorded last week. The disease has claimed 68 lives since authorities recognized its existence on May 12.
KCNA claimed the outbreak was “under control”. But experts cast doubt on that claim, with 25 million North Koreans unvaccinated and the country’s healthcare system one of the worst in the world.
(AFP)
