In a surprising revelation, South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful, Kristi Noem, claims to have met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, according to her upcoming book "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward." However, experts are dismissing this claim as "dubious" and not "conceivable."

The Dakota Scout first reported Noem's assertion, stating that her book contains "at least two instances in which she recounts meetings with world leaders that are in dispute." One such account details her alleged meeting with Kim Jong-un, where she asserts her experience in "staring down little tyrants."

However, numerous sources have come forward to debunk Noem's claim. A longtime high-level Capitol Hill staffer, who worked on the armed services committee during Noem's tenure between 2013 and 2015, called the assertion "bullshit." The Scout also quoted several staffers who had no knowledge of the meeting or claimed that Noem had never mentioned it before.

Experts in North Korean affairs have also expressed skepticism regarding Noem's alleged meeting. George Lopez, an expert on North Korea from Notre Dame University, stated, "I don't see any conceivable way that a single junior member of Congress without explicit escort from the US State Department and military would be meeting with a leader from North Korea." Benjamin Young, a North Korea expert at Virginia Commonwealth University, called Noem's account "dubious" and emphasized that there is "no way" such a meeting could have taken place.

Furthermore, Noem's claim to have canceled a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron has also been called into question. Macron's office clarified that no direct invitation to Noem was issued and suggested that both individuals may have been scheduled to attend the same event in November last year.

It is worth noting that while President Donald Trump did engage in face-to-face meetings with Kim Jong-un in Singapore in 2018, Hanoi in 2019 and in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea later that same year, no lasting diplomatic progress was achieved.

Noem's spokesperson has yet to comment on the dispute surrounding the governor's claims. However, following the publication of the Scout's story, the paper reported that the publisher will be addressing "conflated world leaders' names" in the book before its official release.

With these doubts cast upon Noem's alleged encounters with prominent world leaders, it remains to be seen how this controversy will impact her political aspirations and potential candidacy as the running mate to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

As the public awaits more information, doubts continue to linger regarding the veracity of Noem's extraordinary claims about her interactions with high-profile world leaders.