Kim Jong Un participated in the inauguration of a fertilizer factory on Friday, said the official news agency KCNA, announcing the first public appearance of the North Korean leader after weeks of rumors about his health. "Supreme leader Kim Jong Un cuts the ribbon for the inauguration of the Sunchon phosphate fertilizer plant , " said a dispatch from KCNA, which published photos of the event on Saturday, showing it alongside his sister and counselor Kim Yo Jong.
In one of these photos, we can see the North Korean leader, dressed in his usual black costume, cutting a red ribbon, his sister and other North Korean leaders appearing in the background, without it being possible to 'authenticate this apparition. He "attended the ceremony" , and "all the participants threw hurray!" when it appeared, added the North Korean agency. Kim also visited the factory, and was "briefed on the production process , " KCNA said.
Read also: The absence of Kim Jong-un feeds all the rumors
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. Questions about Kim Jong Un's state of health have multiplied since his absence noted at the April 15 celebrations. This day is the most important on the North Korean political calendar because the whole country commemorates the birth of the founder of the regime, Kim Il Sung, his grandfather.
Friday, according to KCNA, "the supreme leader said with deep emotion that Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il [father of Kim Jong Un] , who worked hard to solve the problem of feeding the people, would be extremely satisfied if they learn that the modern phosphate fertilizer factory has been built. "
Speculation about Kim Jong Un's health was on April 21 from the Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by defected North Koreans. Citing unidentified sources inside the country, he said that Kim Jong Un, about 35 years old, was in a worrying state, suffering in addition to his smoking, obesity and overwork. The American CNN channel then reported that the United States "was monitoring information" that he was in danger of death after an operation.
Read also: North Korea: the mysterious disappearance of Kim Jong-un
Minimizing the rumors, South Korea's special adviser to national security Moon Jae-in said on April 26 that Kim Jong Un was "alive and well" . According to this advisor, Moon Chung-in, the leader had been in Wonsan, a seaside resort on the east coast of North Korea, since April 13. Likewise Donald Trump, questioned on the subject on April 27, had seemed to confirm that Kim Jong Un was alive. Re-interviewed in Washington on Friday, the President declined to comment on the KCNA news.
The concerns surrounding Kim Jong Un's “disappearance” mainly reveal the international community’s unpreparedness for instability in North Korea, said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ehwa University in Seoul. "Washington, Seoul and Tokyo need to strengthen their coordination on plans" in anticipation of this possible disappearance, he said. "If the photos of Kim's reappearance are authentic, the lesson to be learned is that the world will have to listen more to the South Korean government and less to anonymous sources and rumors" on social networks, he added. .
Read also: Kim Jong-un, a spoiled rotten child who has become a tyrant
The state of health of the North Korean leader 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 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, the South Korean intelligence services assured him that he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst on his ankle.
Another subject of speculation: the coronavirus epidemic, which has hit hard the two neighboring countries of North Korea, China and South Korea. Pyongyang said no cases have been reported in a country that has closed its borders and is taking the strictest precautions against the disease.