Kim Jong Un Is ‘Touring Provincial Areas,’ Not Gravely Ill: South Korea

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivering a statement in Pyongyang in regard to a speech made by the president of the United States of America at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2017. STR/AFP via Getty Images

South Korea refuted reports that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was in “grave danger” or was near death.

Presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency there is nothing unusual going on.

“No unusual signs have been identified inside North Korea,” Kang said. “There is nothing we can confirm with regard to Chairman Kim’s alleged health problem.”

Other officials were more emphatic about Kim’s health.

“We confirm that Chairman Kim Jong Un is currently touring provincial areas with his close aides and we do not detect evidences to support speculation about his ill health,” South Korea’s presidential office told news outlets on Tuesday.

“Even North Korea’s Worker’s Party, military or cabinet aren’t showing any special movements such as emergency decree. We believe that Chairman Kim is active as normal as he has been,” the office said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by wife Ri Sol-Ju on July 6, 2012. KNS/AFP/GettyImages

On Tuesday, CNN and other news outlets reported that Kim is “in grave danger after a surgery.”

Daily NK, a Seoul-based specialty website, cited unidentified sources inside the isolated state saying Kim is recovering at a villa in the Mount Kumgang resort county of Hyangsan on the east coast after undergoing the cardiovascular procedure at a hospital on April 12.

Robert O’Brien, President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, told Fox News that the United States is monitoring Kim’s health.

Officials for the isolated, communist country have not issued a statement via official, state-run websites in response to the reports.

Reuters contributed to this report.