North Korean leader Kim Jong-un not coming out in public due to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, believe US and South Korea

Amid rising speculations over the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, South Korean and US officials have said that Kim is missing from public life because he is sheltering himself from the coronavirus pandemic.

Interestingly, North Korea claims it has yet to identify a single case of COVID-19. 

South Korean unification minister, Kim Yeon-chul, said that Kim decided to skip anniversary event as a precautionary measure against coronavirus. Kim did not attend a ceremony held on April 15 to mark the anniversary of the birth of his grandfather – and North Korea’s founder – Kim Il-sung.

“We have intelligence capacity that allows us to say confidently that there are no unusual signs [in North Korea],” Kim Yeon-chul told a parliamentary hearing.

“He had not missed the anniversary … since taking power, but many anniversary events, including celebrations and a banquet, have been cancelled because of coronavirus concerns. I don’t think that’s particularly unusual given the current situation,” he added, stressing that reports claiming Kim had undergone heart surgery are “fake news”.

US officials also echoed similar feelings saying that Kim had taken his private train to the east coast resort town of Wonsan to protect himself from coronavirus.

It may be recalled that Kim was last seen in public on April 11 when he chaired a party politburo meeting. 

Jiro Ishimaru, who heads the Osaka-based Asia Press website and operates a network of citizen journalists in North Korea, told Guardian that the confirmation of news that Kim was in isolation would prove that COVID-19 had spread inside the country.

“I don’t think he is dead – if that was the case there would be a lot more identifiable movement,” Ishimaru told the Guardian. “One theory is that either he himself has the virus or people around him have it and he’s is sheltering.”

Here are some other possible reasons behind Kim's absence from public life:

Recovering from surgery

The Daily NK, a Seoul-based news outlet, earlier reported that Kim underwent a “cardiovascular surgical procedure” few days ago and was recovering at a villa.

The report mentioned that Kim was treated at the Hyangsan Medical Centre on the outskirts of Pyongyang. South Korean officials later said that Kim was involved in “normal activities” in a rural part of the country.

In ‘grave danger’ 

US news outlet CNN claimed the US was monitoring intelligence that suggested that the North Korean leader was in “grave danger” after surgery. Bloomberg News reported that Kim was in critical condition, but US officials were unsure of his current status.

Seeking attention

South Korean politician Yoon Sang-hyun has claimed that Kim has planned the disappearance act as a way to draw attention to the regime. Yoon speculated that Kim would have to come out in public very soon to end the ongoing debate about his grip on power and potential successors.

“If he doesn’t, it’s a real big issue,” Mr Yoon told reporters on Monday, according to the DongA Daily. “Kim is apparently not running the country as he would normally do now.”