NewsColony

NewsColony Kim Jong-un’s absent, North Korea’s silent, and rumours fly © Carl Court/Getty Images SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is still sending letters and gifts to foreign leaders and domestic workers in the name of its leader, Kim Jong-un . Its news media brims, as usual, with panegyrical propaganda extolling Mr. Kim’s leadership. South Korea reiterates that it has detected “nothing unusual” in the North. President Trump has called “ incorrect” and “fake” a report that Mr. Kim was “in grave danger” after surgery. All this has done little to stop the rumor mill churning about Mr. Kim’s health and the fate of the nuclear state — for the simple reason that North Korea has not reported a public appearance by its leader for two weeks. Nor has it responded to lurid claims about his health. The lack of real information from the hermetic country is giving rise to rampant rumor mongering, leaving North Korean experts, foreign officials and intelligence agencies to parse throu...