Tag: Kim Jong-un

North Korean state media broadcast images of leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday, ending a media absence that boosted global speculation that something was amiss in the reclusive country.

With that unique haircut, and familiar wide smile, North Korea’s young dictator resurfaced Tuesday in the traditional style of his tightly controlled nation: state media reports that showed Kim Jong Un offering “field guidance,” surrounded by his usual entourage of generals and officials.

The only clue to Kim’s almost 40-day absence from public view was the walking cane he leaned on, according to photographs Tuesday in Rodong Sinmun, the daily newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party. A report in the Korean Central News Agency gave no date for Kim’s field trip, nor any explanation of why he had made no public outing since Sept. 3, when he attended a concert with his wife.

Kim’s absence sparked rumors of a serious illness or possibly a coup. He missed Friday’s celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party, and was a no-show at last month’s Foundation Day commemoration, further fueling speculation.

The increasingly portly Kim has disappeared before, as did his grandfather and father who started and continued the family dynasty, but this absence still sparked speculation about who actually controls North Korea.

The nuclear ambitions of Kim’s highly militarized regime have long worried the region and the USA.

Analysts in South Korea said Tuesday that Kim remained in full control of the nation. His use of a cane appeared to confirm rumors of ankle surgery, but they warned that Kim’s growing weight and related health issues make future disappearances likely and may affect his ability to govern.

Leaning on a cane as he walked, Kim “gave field guidance” at the newly built Wisong Scientists Residential District, reported KCNA, and also visited the newly built Natural Energy Institute of the State Academy of Sciences. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the trip was probably made Monday.

“Regardless of what injury he had, there is no indication whatsoever of his losing power, or that he has been challenged by anybody in power,” said Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute near Seoul. “The ‘Supreme Leader’ system just functions without any serious problem. There is normalcy over there,” he said.

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s 32-year-old leader, has been absent from public view for more than 38 days, prompting a flurry of speculation about the political stability of a regime notorious for its opaqueness and secrecy.

In particular, Mr Kim’s non-attendance at two high-profile public events – the 10 October anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Worker’s Party, and the 9 September Foundation Day of the North Korean State – two signature days in the political calendar when the leader would be expected to make an appearance, has been read by some as a sign of potential political turmoil behind the scenes.

Official North Korean media have cited unspecified personal “discomfort” as grounds for Mr Kim’s absence from public view.

Foreign analysts of the regime have speculated, on the basis of very limited empirical evidence, that this may be based on a variety of causes ranging from gout, diabetes, heavy smoking on the part of the young leader, ankle injuries sustained during recent military inspection visits, and most recently (according to testimony from a German doctor who met Mr Kim) substantial problems in his endocrine system and internal organs.

Poor health is a plausible explanation for Mr Kim’s decision to shun the limelight – a striking departure for a leader who, in marked contrast to his publicity-shy father (the late Kim Jong-il), has appeared to revel in high-profile public appearances.

A more dramatic interpretation is that Mr Kim has been the victim of a political coup and is languishing under house arrest, having been removed from power by members of the North’s political and military gerontocracy alarmed by his penchant for purging his political rivals – most notably the execution of his uncle Jang Song-taek in December 2013 – and his failure to promote lasting economic prosperity.

In particular, senior members of the Pyongyang elite, may, according to this theory, have become increasingly disgruntled as a result of tightening international sanctions that have curtailed their access to privileges in-kind, typically in the form of ever more scarce luxury commodities.

Alternatively, Mr Kim’s putative political fall from grace could be the result of worries within political circles that the North has been failing in the high-stakes game of international diplomacy.

An erratic policy over the last nine months of alternately sharply criticising and reaching out to the Park Geun-hye administration in South Korea has failed to deliver any political or economic dividends for the North, whether in the form of substantially expanded humanitarian aid, a re-start of tourism at the North’s Mount Kumgang resort, or a dramatic rise in inward foreign investment and trade.

The Obama administration remains resolutely committed to not responding to the North’s military and political provocations, and the North seems incapable of leveraging its de facto nuclear status into any meaningful political or diplomatic concessions from Washington; even China, the North’s sole security guarantor and regional ally, has become increasingly irritated by Mr Kim’s regional belligerence.

Yet for all the talk of coups and leadership realignments, the circumstantial evidence suggests that Mr Kim remains in charge. South Korea’s intelligence community supports the view that he is recuperating from illness and that the decision to limit his public appearances is more likely an attempt to maintain the general air of infallibility associated with the Kim dynasty.

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