North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made a habit of taking extended breaks from public view since the onset of the global pandemic in early 2020, and he is now on his eighth absence of two or more weeks this year alone. 

He last appeared looking around an exhibition of the country’s largest nuclear missiles and other weapons on Oct. 11. In the 16 days since, satellite images have shown renewed activity off the coast of his family palace in Wonsan.

The activity suggests the DPRK leader — who has reappeared having lost significant weight and sporting a mysterious head bandage after previous long breaks this year — may be spending yet more time at his childhood home on the east coast this month, while his subordinates oversee cabinet meetings and missile tests and make economic inspections around the country.

EAST COAST RETREAT

While the North Korean leader’s current whereabouts are not known for certain, exclusive spots that only Kim Jong Un and his trusted family and associates can access have seen renewed activity in recent days.

Boats that may be his multimillion dollar yachts appeared cruising at Kim’s private Wonsan beach on Oct. 24 and away from one of his large leisure crafts anchored at a nearby island on Oct. 25, according to Planet Labs satellite imagery. However, the resolution of the images makes it difficult to determine the precise type of boats being used.

Boats cruising around Kim Jong Un’s 50-meter-long (165 foot) leisure craft off Tae Island (Coordinates: 39.212661° 127.510176°)

Boats driving around the edge of Kim Jong Un’s main Wonsan mansion (Coordinates: 39.192385° 127.404392°)

Satellites have captured images throughout the year that clearly show Kim’s yachts, custom pool party barges and jet skis zooming around his mansions in the Wonsan area during the North Korean leader’s previous public absences.

Since attending the weapons expo in Pyongyang, state media has reported on some of Kim’s activities but has not released new photos or videos of him. These include his letters to the leaders of Syria and Laos and a floral wreath he reportedly sent to be laid at a cemetery outside Pyongyang for Chinese soldiers who assisted North Korea in the Korean War.

During this time, his trusted military subordinates reportedly oversaw a missile test without him — though state media has covered up his presence at tests before — and Premier Kim Tok Hun conducted a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss fulfilling the 2021 state economic plan.

ANOTHER RECLUSIVE YEAR

State media has already begun celebrating the 10th anniversary of Kim’s rule, recounting the many political, military and economy-related appearances he made each month over most of those years. 

State TV has even aired special programs each month this year that feature lists of all his notable inspections to factories and other sites during that particular month in years past, along with praise-filled interviews of those impacted by the visits. 

The programs stand in stark contrast to the zero public factory visits Kim has made since July 2020.

He appeared to spend more time behind the scenes as he started to attend important summits with world leaders in 2018 and 2019. Then 2020 became his least active year yet in terms of public activities amid fears of COVID-19 and Kim’s possible personal health issues.

This year, Kim has surpassed his all-time low of only 49 days of new appearances in state media set last year, mostly by attending a series of multi-day political events like a party congress, plenums and other large meetings. 

However, he is on track to break his record of 10 two-week breaks set last year, after his previous record of six in 2019. In 2015 and 2016, Kim didn’t take a single such extended break, instead appearing in state media at new locations almost every day to publicly lead the country.

His longest time out of the public eye this year was 29 days — the third-longest of his tenure as DPRK leader — and his longest ever was 40 days in 2014 while he battled an apparent health issue. 

Edited by Arius Derr