Kim Jong Un Not Seen in Over a Month, Disappearance Sparks Questions
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hasn't been seen in public for over a month, sparking questions and a wide-range of rumors around his disappearance.
USA Today noted on Tuesday that rumors include a possible coup; that the 31-year-old leader is facing health problems; or that there is a low-grade civil war in the Pacific nation.
North Korea has given no explanation as for why Kim, who regularly makes public appearances, has not been seen for over four weeks now. The last reports showed him attending a music concert with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, on Sept. 3.
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The leader did not show up on Sept. 26 when the parliament convened for its second session of the year, and earlier this week he missed a national meeting to mark the 17th anniversary of the election of his father as general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, according to South Korean sources.
Over the weekend a high-level North Korean delegation paid a surprise visit to the South Korean port city of Incheon to attend the close of the Asian Games.
When asked about the leader's whereabouts, Kim Yang Gon, the head of a ruling party department in charge of South Korea-related affairs, said that "there is nothing wrong with the health of Secretary Kim."
The Guardian added that North Koreans welcomed home their athletes from the Asian Games in Pyongyang on Monday, but Kim was once again absent, even though he usually attends such events.
ABC News speculated about the possible whereabouts of the North Korean leader, presenting six possible theories as to why he has disappeared. The list also mentioned rumors of a coup, or that Kim is receiving treatment for health problems overseas.
Joel Wit, founder of 38North.com and a senior fellow at the U.S.-Korean Institute at Johns Hopkins University, offered: "If something was truly wrong, we would start to see troop movements. We would start to see military maneuvering near the borders."
Jeffrey Lewis, a defense and security scholar at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, told the LA Times that "the big rumor now is that the Organization and Guidance Department has taken over."
Lewis added that with North Korea's unpredictability, it is hard to know for certain what could have happened without further information.
"I think they are plausible rumors, at least worth paying attention to, and it's interesting that he's been out of view that long," he said. "There are some things out of place. Something weird is going on. But they do weird things all the time that shock us."
