Kim Jong Un disappearance from public view ‘suspicious’
Kim Jong Un’s weeks-long absence from public view appears a “bit suspicious” but not out of character for the hard-line North Korea leader, an expert says.
Kim has not been seen since May 6 when he attended an event for military families, according to North Korean state media.
“It looks a bit suspicious but we have seen this before … It’s not out of character for Kim or other dictators,” Leonid Petrov, of the Australian National University in Canberra, told nine.com.au.
Dr Petrov said Kim – believed to be aged in his 30s, had on previous occasions vanished from public view for weeks. He has also kept a low profile since the start of the pandemic last year.
In February 2020, he disappeared for nearly three weeks without any speculation surrounding his health. In April 2020, he disappeared for 12 days, sparking speculation that he has died or was gravely ill after a botched heart operation.
Dr Petrov said trying to track down Kim was hard given North Korea’s hard-line border restrictions.
“North Korea is a country in extreme isolation at the moment. Most European countries have closed their embassies in the capital Pyongyang and even visitors from Russia and China (North Korea’s allies) are being carefully controlled.”
“Kim could be in the underground bunker complex in Pyongyang, or on one of his properties elsewhere in the country.”
Dr Petrov said that through much of last year Russian President Vladimir Putin ran the country from secret locations outside Moscow during the height of the pandemic.
Speculation about the North Korean leader’s whereabouts comes after reports he appointed a new second-in-command.
According to excerpts of a government document seen by CNN, the position was created in January as part of a revision to the rules of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), the communist political organ that rules the secretive country.
It is unclear who has filled it.
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Experts believe it could be vacant or occupied by Jo Yong Won or Kim Tok Hun, two of the most powerful men in North Korea’s government.
