North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, it has been reported.

Several news networks including the CNN, report saying this is according to a US official with direct knowledge.

The report says – Kim didn’t attend the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday, which immediately raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting. Kim didn’t attend April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung, one of the biggest days on the North Korean calender.

The country’s Unification Ministry on Friday said it was “inappropriate” to speculate about the reasons for Kim’s absence.

The health of North Korea’s leader is one of the state’s most closely guarded secrets.

Kim, 36 who is a heavy smoker, has been shown in state media in recent months appearing at military drills and riding a white horse on the country’s revered Mt. Paektu, where state propaganda says his grandfather used as a guerrilla base to fight Japanese colonial occupiers. – Agencies