What could the white stick, golf cart and face mask mean?
Kim Jong Un’s first public appearance in almost three weeks sent analysts poring over the few photos released by North Korean media for clues about his mysterious absence.
Propaganda reports Saturday about Kim’s visit to a fertilizer factory northeast of Pyongyang didn’t make the slightest allusion to the global speculation about his health in recent weeks. That left observers to glean what they could from visual cues about the supreme leader’s appearance, entourage and surroundings.
Here are some things they noticed:
Kim,36, who has gained considerable weight since taking power in 2011, didn’t show any obvious sign of the sort of weight-loss that might follow a serious health scare. He was wearing a Mao suit and sporting what looked like a fresh hair cut.
Speculation about Kim’s whereabouts had mounted since his unprecedented absence from annual events to celebrate the April 15 birthday of his grandfather, state founder Kim Il Sung. U. S. officials said they were told Kim was in critical condition after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure. He was last seen in state media on April 12.
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, quipped on Twitter: “Well, I wouldn’t say Kim looks healthy, but he definitely doesn’t look dead.
