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On the 21st day of the mysteryKim Jong-un cut the dark curtain that had wrapped him. With 21 photos (random number or chosen to make fun of rumors circulated around the world?) Posted by Rodong Sinmun, the North Korean regime newspaper. Front page dominated by the respected quarterback engaged with a pair of scissors to cut a red ribbon, the usual smile on the lips. “Field driving activity for the opening of a new chemical fertilizer factory,” according to Pyongyang, took place on May 1 in Sunchon, some fifty kilometers north of the capital.
The clues
But there are circumstances and clues that leave us perplexed and lead us to believe that “something serious” has happened in these three weeks in Pyongyang, warns Andrei Lankov, a Russian based in Seoul, one of the leading experts on events north of the parallel 38. The news about Kim’s death circulating since April 21 was obviously exaggerated, as evidenced by the large poster with the date May 1, 2020 placed behind the stage in which the dictator rose (well highlighted in one of the photos of the portfolio published yesterday)). But we continue to wonder why the Marshal decided to retreat into the shadows starting on April 11, omitting a highly symbolic anniversary like April 15, commemorating the birth of the dynasty’s founding grandfather. «It was the silence of the Rodong Sinmun, usually full of images and proclamations of Kim who fueled the case, “says Lankov, who also did not believe in the end of the dictator.
The red spot
Kim emerged without a scratch from beneath the avalanche of speculation that he had been left for dead, reduced to a vegetative state, operated on the most optimistic assumptions, or self-isolating to avoid the coronavirus. Or rather, a physical scratch and some political scratches have probably suffered them. NK News, an independent analytics center, also studied video streaming on Pyongyang TV. And in a still image he noticed a red stain under the leader’s right wrist. It could mean an injection, a blood sample, clinical treatment. Another detail: Kim walked a little in front of the cameras and her left leg seemed stiff. In the longest parts of the video he was sitting in a golf cart, an electric sports field car – the northern leader had first used it in 2014, when he reappeared after an ankle operation or gout attack and helped with the stick. Then there are the images of the Sunchon people, enthusiastic and respectful distance. A large crowd in surgical mask – a sign that even in North Korea there is a coronavirus alarm, although the regime has not allowed any cases of contagion.
Ribbon cut
Returning to the symbol of the photo of the return to the field, his sister Kim Yo-jong brought the scissors to Kim, without a mask, but obviously without wearing Covid-19 (if in Pyongyang they have tampons provided by the Chinese, the family and the most nearby). taxpayers are at the top of the list of those who can remove Covid-19). Sister Kim passing the ceremonial scissors to the leader is further proof of her centrality. And the red ribbon suggests the “bloodline” that legitimizes the dynasty founded by Kim Il-sung. However, we are talking about propaganda-selected images, directed directly by Ms. Kim. So even the golf cart could be part of the environment to inform foreign analysts that at most Kim had a gout relapse. Kim Jong-un’s Political Life is an episode-based photographic novel: with many gray spaces for interpretations written abroad, using a magnifying glass.
The hypotheses
We ventured into an interpretation of this dramatic three-week absence: In March, Kim “led the field” for nine rocket tests, a record. Negotiations with the United States have been interrupted for a year. With those early 2020 traces, Kim was trying to get Donald Trump’s attention: a low intensity threat, avoiding intercontinental missiles. Unsuccessfully. Kim, to be noticed, may have decided to leave the scene. World alarm. But he has also directed attention to his health, which does not seem excellent. The southern doctors made a remote checkup: it weighs 130-135 kilos, with a height of 170 cm. Too much smoke. In one of the 21 photos from May 1, he has a cigarette in his fingers and is wrapped in a gray cloud.
May 3, 2020 (changed on May 3, 2020 | 10:34 am)
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