The rodong Sinmun newspaper publishes photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju at the Mansudae Theatre of the Arts in the North Korean capital on Wednesday (17,02,2021) after more than a year without being seen in any public event.
The couple attended a performance held Tuesday on the anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong-il, a former North Korean leader who died in 2011 and Kim Jong-un’s father. The last time the first lady appeared in the North Korean media was in January last year, when she attended a New Year’s concert with her husband at pyonyang’s Samjiyon Theatre.
Ri’s absence in the last year contrasts with his repeated public appearances in 2019, when he accompanied Kim on a visit to a Ballary or when he posed with the leader in equestrian photos in the foothills of Mount Paektu.
A year of speculation
The one that has not appeared in North Korean propaganda for so long has uneded different speculations, including the possibility of a pregnancy.
This is not the first time Ri has been absent from public events for several months and it is believed that on those occasions when he disappeared from the public eye they were able to coincide with his previous pregnancies.
It is also believed that her absence may respond that the first lady would be avoiding public spaces during the pandemic to avoid infecting her children, a theory supported by members of the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS).
No masks
On the other hand, images of Tuesday’s concert show that all attendees, including Ri and Kim Jong-un, don’t wear masks.
The airtight Asian country continues to assure the World Health Organization (WHO) that it has not yet recorded a single COVID-19 contagion.
However, despite North Korea shut down and chanted its borders in January 2020, the total absence of contagion is an assertion doubted by many experts given the porosity of the North Korean border with China.
