South Korea says Kim Jong Un may be in hiding from coronavirus

<p>South Korean officials say they know Kim Jong Un’s location.</p><p>“The government is aware of Kim Jong Un’s location” Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said when asked directly in a parliamentary session on Tuesday, without elaborating, Bloomberg reports.</p><p>Kim also suggested that coronavirus may be the reason why the North Korean leader was not seen for nearly 20 days due to the coronavirus.</p><p>"He had never missed the anniversary for Kim Il Sung's birthday since he took power, but many anniversary events including celebrations and a banquet had been canceled because of coronavirus concerns," the minister told a parliamentary hearing, according to Reuters.</p><p>"I don't think that's particularly unusual given the current (coronavirus) situation," the minister said, although North Korea has said it has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus.</p><p>North Korea has canceled some large events, imposed a border lockdown, and increased quarantine measures in an effort to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus.</p><p>President Donald Trump said on Monday he has a good idea of how Kim Jong Un is doing and hopes he is fine, but would not elaborate.</p><p>The last time official media in North Korea reported on Kim's whereabouts was when he presided over a meeting on April 11.</p><p>Speculation about the 36-year-old North Korean leader’s health accelerated after the Seoul-based news site Daily NK reported April 20 that he was recovering from surgery, citing an unidentified person inside the country.</p><p>The North Korean monitoring group, 38 North, saida train allegedly belonging to Kim has been parked at his compound last week.</p>