Opinion The leader vanishes

Where in the world is Kim Jong-un? The Hermit Kingdom’s supreme leader has been absent from public view since September 3. While such disappearances were used by his father, the reclusive Kim Jong-il, to enhance his mystique, the younger Kim has been a much more visible and ebullient premier. He has been seen inspecting the production of women’s hosiery and shoes, greeting pierced basketball stars, rocking out to North Korean girl bands with his wife, watching lubricant ooze, operating a periscope before heading out to the deck to stare into the middle distance, urging faster mushroom production, launching missiles, walking along rows of frozen fish and contemplating fresh fruit and liquor. Indeed, North Korea’s state media catalogues Kim the younger looking at things so often that there is a Tumblr devoted to just that. So when the omnipresent Kim, last seen limping, suddenly vanished, it naturally sparked off feverish speculation.

There is such a paucity of information from North Korea that conspiracy theorists have had a field day. A storm of rumours is doing the rounds, suggesting everything from hospitalisation due to a cheese allergy to a coup. Last week, North Korean state TV admitted for the first time that Kim was in an “uncomfortable physical condition”, lending credence to the theory that gout or fractures in both ankles are to blame. But speculation of a coup deepened after Hwang Pyong So, Kim’s number two, made a rare, impromptu trip to South Korea last week. Some Korea watchers contend that Hwang is the power behind the throne, and Kim serves mostly as a cultish figurehead.

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Whatever the real reason behind Kim’s absence, the opaque and impenetrable ways in which North Korea operates only fan the flames of conjecture and gossip.