Satellite images show that Kim Jong-un’s personal train is at his vacation home on the North Korean east coast this week amid a new batch of rumors about the country’s first-person. This is indicated by data from the monitoring group 38 North.

According to the media, China has sent an expert team to North Korea, which also has medical personnel. In recent weeks, Kim Jong-un has been out of the “spotlight”, and according to some media, his health is critical after cardiac surgery. According to other reports, he is even dead.

US officials said on Monday that they had been notified of the North Korean leader’s operation, although they did not know his current status. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump raised doubts over CNN’s announcement that Kim Jong-un was in serious condition. White House National Security Council representatives declined to comment.

Surprisingly, Kim Jong-un does not attend his grandfather’s birthday ceremony on April 15, Kim Il-sung. He was also not seen at the April 11 Politburo meeting, which fueled speculation about his condition. The North Korean state-run Central News Agency reported that Kim had sent a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday. It should be borne in mind that such communications are a common practice among state leaders.

A delegation led by senior members of the International Relations Department of the Chinese Communist Party – in charge of relations with Pyongyang – left Beijing on Thursday. According to the agency, it is not immediately possible to determine what this means for Kim Jong-un’s health. The North Korean leader’s status is one of the most closely guarded secrets in an isolated country, with only a handful of people in the country.

Shukan Gendai magazine wrote on Friday that a Chinese doctor sent to North Korea as part of Kim’s treatment team believes delaying the simple procedure has seriously hurt the leader.

The North Korean media has made no mention of Kim’s health or whereabouts, though reports from other media have raised international speculation about his condition.

A Chinese expert has told the magazine that Kim clutched his chest and fell to the ground when he visited the province earlier this month. The doctor accompanying Kim performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and brought him to a nearby hospital.

Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be 36 years old, needed a stent – a procedure that involves placing a small implant – a tube that serves to expand a narrow vessel so that blood can continue to flow to the heart.

The Seoul-based newspaper Daily NK reported earlier this week that Kim Jong-un was recovering from a cardiovascular procedure he suffered on April 12, citing an unnamed source in North Korea.

Other unconfirmed information attributed to top party sources in Beijing said the stent surgery was confused because the surgeon’s hands were shaking “terribly hard”.

The #KimJongUndead hashtag is picking up speed on Twitter, but without confirmation of his death.

The last time Kim was seen in public was 2 weeks ago.