North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reappears in public after one-month absence
- A plenary meeting of the ruling party will be held this month, and experts suggested Pyongyang may consider reopening dialogue with Seoul
- Kim’s last public appearance was on May 6 and reports suggest his latest absence could be part of his plans to avoid Covid-19
Kim, wearing his signature black Mao suit, said it was time to take “additional state measures for solving pending problems urgent for the economic work and people’s living”, according to official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday. A plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Party will be held this month.
Kim also reviewed the “execution of major policy tasks in different fields” in the meeting, the state media said.
“The North will likely resume dialogue with the South first in order to fathom Biden’s thoughts through President Moon,” said Moon Chung-in, former presidential adviser for security and foreign affairs to the South Korean president.
“It is likely that Kim Yo-jong [Kim Jong-un’s sister] may issue a statement later this month, stating the North’s intention to come back to dialogue,” he said, adding that the North Korean leader could again
meet President Moon at the border truce village of Panmunjom as they did secretly in 2018.
North Korea’s economy has shown little sign of growth this year after its worst contraction in decades as it continues to struggle with the pandemic, US sanctions and a lack of trade with China.
Kim’s last public appearance was on May 6, when he posed for a photograph after a gathering for military families, according to NK News, a website that focuses on North Korean news.
The latest absence could be part of Kim’s plans to avoid Covid-19, NK News said. He could have been attending to state matters or holidaying at his coastal mansion, where satellite imagery indicates an increase of activity in the area, it said.
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The health of North Korea’s leader is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the reclusive state, known only to a few people in the country’s most powerful inner circle.
Overweight and a chain smoker, Kim has been the subject of health speculation for years. His longest absence from the public eye was six weeks in 2014. When he did appear, he was walking with a cane, raising speculation that he could be suffering from gout.
Additional reporting from Park Chan-kyong
