Amid mounting rumors about the failing health of Kim Jong-Un, the leader of North Korea, the secretive state’s media on Monday (North Korean time) published a letter from the country’s leader to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulating him on Freedom Day.

In the letter addressed to Ramaphosa, the Kim expressed his certainty that the two nations’ friendship would unendingly expand and develop, in addition to referencing Freedom Day, a public holiday celebrated in South Africa on Monday.

The letter which was dated April 27, 2020, according to the KCNA, was published to dampen rumors that the dictator was in a ‘grave condition’ after he missed the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday on April 15 and Chinese doctors were sent last week to ‘advice him’.

The rumors about Kim’s health started last week when a South Korean online daily, Daily NK, reported that Kim had a cardiovascular surgical procedure because of “excessive smoking, obesity, and overwork.” 

The news outlet that focuses on North Korea also said the leader was receiving treatment in a villa in Hyangsan County, north of Pyongyang.