Kim Jong Un Makes Public Appearance After 20-Day Absence
Questions about North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un’s Health were raised and quelled after his reappearance from speculated cardiovascular issues.
Kim Jong-Un participated in the opening of a fertilizer factory on Friday, the North Korean news agency KCNA said. This is the first official media claim for a public appearance by the North Korean leader since the start of rumors about his health.
“Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un cuts the ribbon for the opening of the Sunchon Phosphate Fertilizer Plant,” said a KCNA dispatch, which released photos from the event on Saturday, showing it alongside his sister and adviser Kim Yo-jong. .
In one of these photos, we can see the North Korean leader, dressed in his usual black suit, cutting a red ribbon, his sister and other North Korean leaders appearing in the background, without it being possible to ” authenticate this appearance thanks to an independent source.
How is Kim Jong-Un’s Health.
The North Korean leader has not appeared in public since he chaired a Politburo meeting on April 11. The next day, official media claimed that he was inspecting fighter jets at a military base. Clearly Kim Jong-Un’s health was in question leading up to his reappearance.
Questions about Kim Jong-Un’s health have multiplied since his absence at the April 15 celebrations. This day is the most important in North Korea’s political calendar because the entire country commemorates the birth of the regime’s founder, Kim Il-sung, his grandfather.
Speculation
Speculation about Kim Jong-Un‘s health had surfaced on April 21 from the Daily NK, an online outlet primarily run by abandoned North Koreans. Citing unidentified sources within the country, he said Kim Jong-un, in his 35s, was in a worrying state, in addition to smoking, obesity and overwork.
The US channel CNN then reported that the United States “was monitoring information” that it was in danger of death after an operation.
A well kept secret
The North Korean leader’s, i.e. Kim Jong-Un’s health, is an extremely well-kept state secret, in a country known to be opaque to foreigners, and where press freedom does not exist. In 2011, it took two days after Kim Jong-il’s death for the information to come out of the closed circle of dignitaries in Pyongyang.
In 2014, his son and successor Kim Jong-un disappeared from traffic for nearly six weeks, then reappeared with a cane. After several days, South Korea’s intelligence services assured him that he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst on his ankle.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the “unsubstantiated writings” had caused “confusion and unnecessary costs in various areas such as the economy, security and society.” According to him, “in the future, information about North Korea will require taking all precautions.”
The North Korean leader’s state of health is an extremely well-kept state secret, in a country known for being opaque to foreigners, and where press freedom does not exist.
In 2011, it took two days after Kim Jong Il’s death for the information to come out of the very closed circle of dignitaries in Pyongyang. In 2014, his son and successor, Kim Jong Un, disappeared from traffic for almost six weeks, then reappeared with a cane.
After several days, South Korea’s intelligence services assured him that he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst on his ankle.
Another topic of speculation: the coronavirus epidemic, which hit the two neighboring countries of North Korea, China and South Korea hard. Pyongyang says that no cases have been reported in a country that has closed its borders and has the strictest precautions against the disease.
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