North Korea leader

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un 'suffered fever' during Covid outbreak

Kim Yo-jong also blamed South Korea for her country's outbreak - saying it sent leaflets contaminated with Covid across the border.

South Korea rejected the claims as "groundless".

Ms Kim was speaking as her brother declared victory in the country's battle against Covid.

The secretive country announced its first Covid outbreak in May and has reported fever infections and deaths since. But there is widespread doubt over the data, especially the low number of deaths.

China sends medical team to North Korea amid rumours Kim Jong-un is unwell

The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signaled in terms of Kim's health.

A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea.

The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

Kim Jong-un illness rumours denied amid intense speculation

Headlines that Kim Jong-un was "gravely ill", "brain-dead" or "recovering from an operation" were always going to be impossible to verify.

But the presidential office in Seoul has said there have been no particular signs from the North to indicate the 36-year-old is "gravely ill".

It is also not the first time rumours about his health have fired up intense flurries of speculation - only to be later dismissed.