North Korean leader Kim Jong-un not missing, just having ankle surgery

Sidney Morning Herald – by Anna Fifield

Tokyo: Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader who has mysteriously been missing from the public eye for almost a month, sparking rumours ranging from a stroke to a coup d’etat, is apparently just recovering from ankle surgery.

Mr Kim had fractured both of his ankles and had surgery in Pyongyang in the middle of September to treat them, the Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s largest newspaper, reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source.  

“I heard that Kim Jong-un injured his right ankle in June after pushing ahead with on-site visits and ended up fracturing both ankles because he left the injury unattended,” the source said, adding that the leader had had the operation at the Bonghwa Clinic, an exclusive hospital for high-ranking party members.

Such is the fascination with North Korea, the world’s most impenetrable country, that rumours spread like wildfire. But they are almost always impossible to verify.

Nevertheless, it is true that Mr Kim has become noticeably more rotund since he took over the leadership of North Korea from his father, Kim Jong-il, in December 2011. He was pictured limping in July during a ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of his grandfather, former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, causing speculation about his health.

But the gossip mill started up again last week when Mr Kim, the third-generation leader of North Korea, missed a regular session of the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang. He has not been seen in public since September 3, when he attended a concert with his wife. The rumours went into overdrive when the state-run Korean Central TV said the “Great Successor” was in an “indisposed condition”.

“Despite some discomfort, our Marshal continues to come out and lead the people,” said the narrator of a documentary called Improving the Lives of the People, showing footage of Kim limping through the Taedonggang Tile Factory last month.

Outside commentators have guessed that Mr Kim has gout, which runs in the family, or has been drinking and eating too much. Diabetes and high blood pressure have also been put forward as possible causes of his absence.

Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, went crazy this week with reports that Jo Myong Rok, a North Korean vice-marshal who died four years ago, had overthrown Kim in a coup and sent his lieutenants to South Korea for negotiations. Talk spread so quickly that the Global Times, one of China’s official papers, ran a commentary on Monday titled: “For those who make up rumours of coup in North Korea, is it so funny?”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-korean-leader-kim-jongun-not-missing-just-having-ankle-surgery-20141001-10ofvr.html#ixzz3Ew4W75mB