Rumors are once again swirling about the health of Kim Jung Un, the North Korean dictator, after Japan’s Defense Minister made comments about the strange occurrences in the Hermit Kingdom. Japan has also been pushing back at the North’s claim that the country has not had one case of Covid-19.

I know you’re thinking, “Didn’t we see this psychodrama a few months ago?” Yes, but like most moderately successful hits, there is always a sequel. As a matter of fact, my mind went right to movie quotes like, “It just so happens your friend here is only mostly dead.” from The Princess Bride, and “She’s not only merely dead; she’s really most sincerely dead.” from The Wizard of Oz. Due to the duplicitous nature of the Norks, you have to look for the Easter Eggs to see what is really going on.

We are going to look to Japan for a few hints as to where the Easter Eggs are. From the Express UK:

Speaking at an English-language press briefing at the Japanese Foreign Correspondents Club yesterday, Mr Kono likewise suggested all was not well.He said: “Recent movement in North Korea is quite strange. We suspect COVID-19 is spreading around North Korea and Kim Jong-un is trying not to get infected, so sometimes he doesn’t come out in public.

Yup, the Norks have claimed that they have no Covid-19 even as the Voice of America claimed that the virus is spreading because of famine in the North:

WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs says even more people have no access to health, clean water, sanitation and hygiene services.

“There are also 1.7 million children under five who are also living under the threat of recurrent natural disasters, and now, the global COVID-19 pandemicو” Byrs said. “Malnutrition has been persistent and widespread, causing long-term damage to the health and development of children, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers.”

Last fall, the harvest in the North was poor, because efforts were poured into Kim Jung Un’s weapons programs.

The North Korean people are starving and dying. Where is Kim Jung Un? Well, in addition to or because of his hooch issues, Jung Un has a plethora of health problems:

Here's the verdict of South Korean doctors who assessed Kim Jong Un's health based on unedited footage of him at summits with the South Korean and American presidents: pic.twitter.com/vgKYo5lctg

— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) April 21, 2020

That fromage will get you every time. Let’s add up what we know so far: The people of North Korea are starving, with bad hygiene and more vulnerable to the Covid-19. Dear Leader is a ticking time bomb of health problems, and Japan thinks movements in the North have been quite strange. Strange indeed.

On June 16, the Norks blew up a border Liaison Office and threatened military action against the South:

Kim Jung Un may just be hiding from little sister, Kim Yo Jong. You are going to have to reach back far into your memory banks to the time that our media cheered the “boffo” performance of despotic dictator’s younger sister at the 2018 Olympics. Lisa wrote about that and you can read it here. Yo Jong has become increasingly more belligerent. In March, she released remarks about South Korean President Moon Jae-In:

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, denounced the South Korean government for its “grave concerns” over the North’s recent rocket launches, saying they were part of routine self-defense exercises.

In a statement released by state news agency KCNA on Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong called Seoul’s presidential office “mentally challenged” and likened it to a “frightened dog.”

Bet, she’s a bunch of fun out at the movies with friends.

I trust Japan on this. They kind of have a lot at stake. If Japan is worried about the strange goings on in North Korea, maybe we should stop fighting among ourselves and look outward. Whether Kim Jung Un is nearly dead, mostly dead or really most sincerely dead, it’s gonna get ugly on the Korean Peninsula. Unless, of course, China tells them all to go play nice.

Featured Image: Ali Eminov/Flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)