Kim Jong Un may have missed a key holiday on April 15 over coronavirus concerns, not because he is ill, South Korea's minister for North Korean affairs has said. North Korean leader Kim's absence from public ceremonies on the birth anniversary of his grandfather and founder of the country, Kim Il Sung, was unprecedented, and he has not been seen in public since. North Korea has cancelled some big events and imposed a border lockdown and quarantine measures in an effort to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus. But if Kim is hiding out because of fears surrounding Covid-19 it would "puncture a hole in the state media narrative of how this crisis has been perfectly managed", said Chad O'Carroll, CEO of Korea Risk Group, which monitors North Korea. "If he is merely trying to avoid infection, it should theoretically be very easy to release photos or videos of a healthy-looking Kim," he said.

Source: News 24 April 28, 2020 14:26 UTC