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The North reported that Kim had attended the opening of a fertilizer factory and published images that he said showed the leader cutting a ribbon at the ceremony on Friday.
A woman passes in front of a television screen showing an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a ceremony to commemorate the completion of the Sunchon phosphate fertilizer factory at a railway station in Seoul on May 2, 2020. Image : AFP
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea’s Kim Jong Un made its first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reported Saturday, after intense speculation that the nation’s nuclear-armed leader was seriously ill or possibly dead. .
The North reported that Kim had attended the opening of a fertilizer factory and published images that it said showed the leader cutting a ribbon at Friday’s ceremony in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang, although the appearance could not be verified.
Rumors of Kim’s health have been circulating since his apparent non-appearance at the April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the founder of the North, the most important day in the country’s political calendar.
His absence triggered a series of feverish rumors and unconfirmed reports of his condition, while the United States and South Korea insisted that they had no information to believe that any of the conjecture was true.
Seoul’s unification ministry came to Saturday’s report saying that “unfounded” speculation about Kim had caused “unnecessary confusion”, calling for more careful consideration in the future.
Kim’s sudden death would have left Pyongyang facing an unplanned succession for the first time in its history and raising unanswered questions about who would succeed him and take over the North’s nuclear arsenal.
Korea’s Central News Agency said viewers “erupted into thunderous cheers of ‘Hooray!'” When Kim appeared.
Images released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim in her signature black suit, smiling broadly as she looked around the factory.
He was flanked by senior officials, including his sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong, and showed no external signs of ill health.
As with previous images released by the North during the global coronavirus pandemic, Kim was not wearing a mask, unlike the hundreds of workers cheering for him and launching balloons.
Analysts said Kim could not appear in public wearing a mask, as it would make him appear vulnerable to the people of North Korea.
The North has insisted that it has not seen a single case of coronavirus, although experts say it is unlikely.
Kim’s repeated appearances without a mask had led some to speculate that he may have contracted the virus.
Reporting from within the isolated North is notoriously difficult, especially on matters related to his leadership, which is among his best-kept secrets.
Rumors of ill health
The North Korean leader had not made a public appearance since he chaired a meeting of the Workers’ Party politburo on April 11, and the next day state media reported that he had inspected fighter jets.
Daily NK, an online media outlet primarily run by North Korean defectors, reported that Kim was on treatment after a cardiovascular procedure last month.
Citing an unidentified source within the country, he said Kim, who is in his 30s, had needed urgent treatment due to smoking, obesity and fatigue.
Shortly after, CNN He reported that Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was “in grave danger” after undergoing surgery, citing an unnamed US official.
Officials in Seoul had consistently downplayed the reports, and a presidential security adviser said Kim was “alive and well” and that she was staying in the eastern resort town of Wonsan.
Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul, said Kim’s disappearance had highlighted that the world “was not prepared for instability in North Korea.”
“Washington, Seoul and Tokyo need tighter coordination in contingency plans,” he said.
Rachel Lee, a former North Korean analyst with the United States government, told AFP that the past few weeks had also shown “an insatiable appetite for news about North Korea’s leadership.”
He highlighted the “potential regional and international risks to Kim Jong Un’s health” and lamented the “poor analysis of North Korea that is based on impressions and speculation, not hard data.”
United States President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Washington believed Kim was alive and well and declined to comment immediately on Kim’s apparent revival.
Trump and Kim have met three times, although talks about the North’s nuclear capabilities have long stalled without signs of a resumption.
Kim’s previous absences from the public eye have also sparked speculation about his health. The North is extremely reserved, especially about its leadership.
Kim’s father and predecessor had been dead for two days before someone outside the innermost circles of North Korea’s leadership was wiser.
In 2014, Kim Jong Un disappeared from sight for almost six weeks before reappearing with a cane. Days later, the Southern spy agency said he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle.
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