North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s wife on Wednesday made her first public appearance in state media in more than a year. The unusual absence of the woman, Ri Sol Ju, since early last year had spawned speculation that she was pregnant or had a fight with Kim.
The state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun released photos of Kim and Ri watching a performance at the Mansudae Art Theater in Pyongyang. The photos, dated Tuesday, show Ri smiling and clapping next to Kim.
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The newspaper’s report did not explain why Ri had not been seen since January 2020.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, told VICE World News that North Korean state media had not reported on Ri last year because of severe floods and the pandemic.
“From the point of view of Kim as a leader who has to overcome the crisis, it was not a good timing to show he’s enjoying his life with his wife,” Lim said. “I think she appeared in public on the important day to avoid unnecessary speculation and show she is still alive and well.”
The Tuesday concert celebrated the Day of the Shining Star, one of the most important public holidays in North Korea. The day is the birthday of Kim Jong Il, the second supreme leader of the country and Kim’s father.
Before Ri’s appearance, analysts had speculated that she could be busy taking care of Kim Kyung Hee, Kim Jong Un’s reportedly sick aunt. Others said that Ri herself could be ill, pregnant or have troubles with the leader. Some rumors went as far as to suggest that Ri had been executed.
Four members of North Korea’s Unhasu Orchestra, where Ri had once worked, were executed in 2015 for spying, South Korea’s spy agency said then.
On Tuesday, the agency, the National Intelligence Service, dismissed the recent speculations, telling lawmakers there were no unusual signs and Ri appeared to have refrained from public activities to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection but was “playing well with her kids.”
North Korea has suffered economic disruption since it shut its border last January with China, where the bulk of the North’s imports came from. The country has not officially confirmed a single case of COVID-19, a claim that has been challenged by South Korean officials.
