Update | North Korea leader Kim is still in charge, has leg injury: source
Source close to North Korea's leadership says leader Kim Jong-un remains in control of the secretive nuclear state but remains out of the public eye while recuperating from a leg injury
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in firm control of his government but hurt his leg taking part in a military drill, a source with access to the secretive North’s leadership said, playing down speculation over the 31-year-old’s health and grip on power in the nuclear-capable nation.
North Korea’s state media, which usually chronicle Kim’s activities in great detail, have not mentioned any public appearances since he attended a concert with his wife on September 3, and Kim was absent from early state media coverage of an important political anniversary on Friday.
In the previous two years, Kim marked the anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s Workers’ Party with a post-midnight visit to the Pyongyang mausoleum where the bodies of his father and grandfather are interred.
Last year, that visit was covered about four hours later by the state’s KCNA news agency, and by the daily Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
As of midday on Friday, there was no KCNA report of an event at the mausoleum and a state television channel had not broadcast any new images of the young leader, instead running a documentary on his father and grandfather.
The source with access to the North’s leadership, who has close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing, said on Thursday that Kim had hurt his leg while inspecting military exercises.