Kim Jong-un has been AWOL for two months and hasn’t appeared at any new building openings or public events – he even skipped the historic 73rd anniversary of the end of the Korean War
Kim Jong-un hasn’t been seen for a while (stock)(Image: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s been more than one week since the Daily Star started to notice something strange(er than normal) going on in North Korea. There was a time when the opening of an envelope would see leader Kim Jong-un make an appearance in front of adoring, crying and screaming crowds of locals.
But for nearly two months, the Tubby Tyrant has been AWOL. He hasn’t appeared at any new building openings, no public events, and even skipped the historic 73rd anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
The last available images of him are actually photos of the front page of a North Korean newspaper, showing him meeting with his counterparts in China in North Korea. That was on June 9, with almost a total silence since then – and that includes some very strange things happening from the country’s media, such as images disappearing. And there hasn’t been any real new pictures of him at a mass public gathering since the end of March.
He hasn’t been seen in public for months(Image: KCNA/AFP via Getty Images)
And earlier this week, Kim Jong-un was nowhere to be found when three things happened – his officials inspected the self-named Kim Jong Thae Electric Locomotive Complex in Pyongyang, the opening of a “schoolchildren’s palace” in Nampho.
Kim normally attends every event, but Premier Pak Thae-song was at the Locomotive Complex in Pyongyang in his absence, while his lack of appearance at the school was also a mystery.
He was also absent when his own officials slammed a US-led naval exercise and hit back at what it called a “war rehearsal”. A spokesman, cited as a “military commentator,” said: “The deputy commander of the US Pacific Fleet openly said that the commanding role of the ROK and Japan was not a symbolic one but for the actual operation.
He’s missed many major events in recent months(Image: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images)
“This goes to prove that RIMPAC, the largest-ever naval drill in the world, is, in fact, a war rehearsal of aggression led by the US, Japan and the ROK.”
But the question still remains . . . where exactly is Kim Jong-un and why has he not been seen for months? One theory could be that he’s just avoiding the heat, given his ample size.
It is set to be a swealtering 37c this week, with around 59% humidity. Given Kim’s not-so-BMI-friendly size, it could be a very good reason for his lack of public appearances.
The weather could be a reaason(Image: KCNA/AFP via Getty Images)
However, he also hasn’t appeared on TV or at in-house meetings at his Pyongyang base. Not to go down the full conspiracy theory route, but rumours are swirling that he could have gone down the Vladimir Putin lane of erm . . . not being alive. There is currently no talk of this being true, or that he has a body double, but the longer Kim Jong-un doesn’t make public appearances, the more speculation into what’s going on will ramp up.
