After a year of avoiding the public eye, Kim Jong Un's wife ended the speculations regarding her condition as she made her first public appearance alongside the North Korean leader.
According to Bloomberg, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Wednesday that Ri Sol Ju, Kim Jong Un's wife, who has been missing for a year, joined her husband at a musical performance for the anniversary of the birth of the Supreme Leader's father and former leader Kim Jong Il.
The day is also known as the Day of the Shining Star in the Hermit state.
KCNA also mentioned that the General Secretary came to the theater's auditorium together with his wife Ri Sol Ju, in the middle of the welcome music, and all attendees of the event burst into thunderous cheers of 'Hurrah!'
A photo of the couple landed on the front page of the state's largest newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. It showed the couple being treated to songs, including 'People Are of a Single Mind' during the performance.
Based on the report of specialist service NK News in late January, the estimated 32-year-old Kim Jong Un's wife may have been sidelined because of the threat brought by the COVID-19, which virtually ended international visits and the need to appear by the side of the Supreme Leader at events. A part of the normal statecraft of the Hermit state.
An independent political analyst, who previously worked for the United States government in areas related to North Korea, Rachel Minyoung Lee, shared that if her prolonged absence was due to the fear of acquiring coronavirus, then the reappearance of Kim Jong Un's wife could be an indicator that the Hermit state is already safe, The Washington Post reported.
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She also mentioned that it could also suggest increased regime confidence in the quarantine situation of the country.
Also, the Seoul-based website that collects information from informants inside the isolated nation, Daily NK, mentioned that there was speculation that Ri Sol Ju may have been taken ill within the Hermit state.
The website also added the possibility that Kim Jong Un's wife might be taking care of a member of the Kim family who had gotten sick or staying at home, preparing her youngest daughter to start school.
Also, Kim and his family's health are among the most closely guarded secrets in the highly secretive state, which is only known to their inner circle, The Telegraph reported.
Meanwhile, Kim Byung-kee, a ruling Democratic Party lawmaker, stated that the intelligence agency of the South told lawmakers on Tuesday during the meeting of a parliamentary intelligence committee that Kim Jong Un's wife may have been taking care of the couple's children.
He also added that they were also told that there is a high chance that Ri and her children are just avoiding any public appearance during the coronavirus pandemic.
Aside from the information regarding Kim Jong Un's wife's reappearance, the agency also shared to the lawmakers that North Korea tried to steal Pfizer vaccine data.
