North Korean leader makes two official visits, putting an end to speculation over his health and talk of a possible coup

North Korean state media reported early on Tuesday local time that Kim Jong-un visited a newly built residential district and the Natural Energy Institute of the State Academy of Sciences, after six weeks of global speculation about his whereabouts.



“Our scientists are patriots who are devoting all their lives to building a rich and powerful nation,” he was quoted as saying.

Kim was pictured walking with the aid of a black cane – lending weight to the theory that he has been receiving treatment for a leg injury or illness that has affected his ability to walk unaided.

It was Kim’s first public appearance since 3 September, when he attended a concert with his wife. The report did not say on which day the visits took place.

Kim’s prolonged absence from public view had sparked intense debate about the state of his health and of his grip on power in what remains one of the world’s poorest and most isolated countries. Kim, 31, missed a key political anniversary last Friday, as well as a recent session of the country’s parliament.

Kim, who became leader in December 2011 after his father died of a heart attack, is known to have a fondness for fattening foods such as cheese, prompting some observers to wonder whether he was suffering from gout. In July he was shown on television walking with a limp at an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of his grandfather and North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung.

Jiro Ishimaru of Asia Press, an Osaka-based organisation with well-placed contacts in North Korea, said earlier this month that the most likely explanation for his absence was ongoing treatment for a leg condition. He was adamant that rumours Kim had been ousted from power in a coup d’etat were nonsense.

North Korean diplomats in New York and Seoul condemned the speculation as an attempt to destabilise the regime.

John Delury, a North Korea analyst at Yonsei University in Seoul, said last week there was evidence that Kim was in poor health, which the ruling party did not want to reveal to protect the leader’s image. “When the leader is somehow physically incapacitated, they can’t show him off as they like to,” he said. “The regime is incredibly image-conscious. It choreographs everything, especially when it comes to the leader. Kim is a young guy, and you don’t want to see a young guy in that condition.”

If a coup had taken place, there would have been other signs betraying such a significant event in the secretive state, according to Delury. A delegation had visited Seoul and the United Nations in New York as planned, he said, which reinforced his belief that Kim’s absence was due to ill-health.

Others questioned whether Kim Yo-jong, the 27-year-old sister who was introduced to North Koreans as a “senior official of the party central committee” in March, may have assumed some of her brother’s responsibilities. She is believed to act as an adviser to her brother.



• This article was amended on 14 October 2014. The first paragraph was reformulated, a reference to gout was removed from the seventh paragraph, and a reference to Kim walking with a cane was introduced