Leader’s absence fuels talk of power struggle
Kim Jong Un hasn’t been seen since early September
SEOUL — Kim Jong Un’s prolonged absence from public view, including skipping a session of parliament, has raised questions about whether his disappearance has less to do with his health and more to do with his grip on power in nuclear- armed North Korea.
Kim has not been seen in public since Sept. 3, an unusual stretch in a country where media provide a steady stream of propaganda images featuring the Supreme Leader overseeing everything from missile launches to grain harvests. While official media reports say Kim is suffering “discomfort,” his seclusion has sparked discussion about who is in charge of a country that boasts 1.2 million troops and has threatened to turn Seoul into a sea of fire.
Having missed a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly last month, attention has turned to Thursday’s anniversary celebration of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party and whether Kim, who walked with a limp in the most- recent footage provided, will show up. The surprise visit by Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong So to the closing of the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea on Oct. 4, fanned social media posts that Kim’s top military official may be in charge, a reading challenged by one former intelligence official.
“The senior North Korean officials’ recent visit is a clear sign Kim is firmly in power,” said Kim Jung Bong, who served in South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and now teaches political science at Hanzhong University. “It’s Kim himself that sent those senior officials,” he said. “There is nothing yet that indicates his power has been compromised.”
A documentary aired last month on state television showed an overweight Kim limping at a public appearance and said he was suffering from
“For now, you can say what you want about Kim Jong Un and it’s hard to disprove some conspiracy theories until he reappears. JOHN DELURY PROFESSOR, INTERNATIONAL STUDIES YONSEI UNIVERSITY
“discomfort.” South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Sept. 30 that Kim had been hospitalized after surgery on both ankles to address an injury sustained during field supervisions in June.
“He could be suffering from anything from gout to a bone fracture in his foot,” Jun Jae Bum, a professor at Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, said by phone. “But none of them would be ailments serious enough to incapacitate him from making political decisions.”
Kim has a sister and a brother, while his elder half brother, Kim Jong Nam, lives outside the country. North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, a group of defectors based in South Korea, wrote on its website that Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, is effectively in control because his health has deteriorated “as much as it could” from drinking and overeating.
The constant rumours are “a real headache” for intelligence agents, said Hanzhong University’s Kim. He cited a rumour last month that a coup led by North Korean military officer Jo Myong Rok toppled Kim. Jo has been dead since 2010.
“For now, you can say what you want about Kim Jong Un and it’s hard to disprove some conspiracy theories until he reappears,” said John Delury, a professor of international studies at Seoul’s Yonsei University.