Hillary’s health issue

Americans were in shock when Hillary Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, collapsed after a 9/11 commemoration ceremony on Sunday. This confirmed that she has indeed a health issue. She took a month off as a State Secretary after a concussion in 2012. When she gave a speech in Ohio last Monday, she could not stop coughing for three minutes and video footage showed that she could not keep talking to reporters due to coughing.

She came under public criticism when she said in an interview with CNN on Monday that she lost her balance, but did not lose consciousness, and is feeling so much better. People doubted why she confesses that she has pneumonia now. Samuel Durso, Obama’s former physician, said, “When you are old, pneumonia can get worse. It can even cause internal bleeding.” David Axelrod, a former senior advisor to President Obama, said on Twitter on Monday, "Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What's the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?"

She wrote in her autobiography that she was hospitalized at a military hospital because she could not wear her shoes due to her swollen feet caused by the blood clot in her right leg in 1998 when she was the First Lady. Her second blood clot in her leg in 2009 was disclosed when her physician explained her health condition to the press in 2015. This news came at inopportune time as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is closely chasing her with only by 2 to 3 percentage points. Some media reports claimed, “There should be an alternative. ...Who will be next if Hillary drops out of the race around the voting date on Nov. 8?”

As many as four out of 44 U.S. presidents died in office. This is why Americans are so sensitive about presidential candidates’ health conditions. Koreans are keenly watching the U.S. presidential race as the outcome will have a major impact on diplomatic and security issues on the Korean Peninsula including the deployment of THAAD and North Korea’s nuclear issues. Clinton will have the first presidential debate on Sept. 26. The world is watching closely whether she can go beyond her health issue to prove her qualities as the next president.