Following the emergence of unconfirmed reports about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un allegedly either being dead or in a vegetative state, US Senator Lindsey Graham announced that he'd be quite surprised if these rumors don't turn out to be true.
Speaking with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, Graham argued that despite the closed nature of North Korea, the country's leadership would eventually have to address these speculations.
"It's a closed society. I haven't heard anything directly, but I'll be shocked if he's not dead or in some incapacitated state because you don't let rumors like this go forever or go unanswered in a closed society which is really a cult, not a country, called north Korea," the senator said. “So I pretty well believe he is dead or incapacitated".
Having expressed hope that the people of North Korea "will get some relief" if Kim is indeed dead, Graham added that US President Donald Trump "is willing to do business with North Korea in a win-win fashion".
"So if this guy is dead, I hope the guy who takes over will work with President Trump to make North Korea a better place for everybody," he stated.
Meanwhile, Russian legislator Kazbek Taysaev, who recently held talks with the North Korean ambassador to Russia, warned that it is too early to jump to conclusions regarding speculations about Kim's health, as "only the official statement from the authorities in Pyongyang can be seen as a confirmation".
Many social media users, however, have already proceeded to crack jokes about Kim's possible demise as the hashtag #KIMJONGUNDEAD started trending on Twitter.