North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have skipped another photo opportunity with attendees at a key event, raising questions over possible new COVID-19 precautions or personal health issues, or if the move is part of more changes to traditional party optics.

Before last month, Kim had never missed a group photo with attendees at major party congresses. That changed when he failed to appear for a photo at the General Federation of Trade Unions congress in late May amid an extended public absence.

Now, five days have passed since a Pyongyang rally closed out the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Women’s Union of Korea (SWUK), and state media has not made any mention of Kim showing up for a group photo with the event’s participants.

The conspicuous absence comes as North Korea confronts a “food crisis” in the country and there are apparently widespread concerns about Kim’s health. 

The North Korean leader has avoided public appearances more frequently and for longer periods since the pandemic began early last year. There is also new evidence suggesting Kim was at his luxurious east coast retreat last week while the women’s union congress took place.

SOCIAL DISTANCING? 

One possible explanation for why Kim has skipped the last two congress photo-ops is that he does not want to take the chance of catching COVID-19, or one of its variants, the risks of which state media has continually warned about. 

The North Korean leader has never been shown on camera wearing a mask, and he’s frequently appeared over the last year and a half in auditoriums packed with unmasked people. Officially, masking and social distancing are mandatory in North Korea, as emphasized in state propaganda every day.

But only recently does it appear that Kim and those around him are taking COVID safety precautions more seriously. At an indoor musical performance he attended last month, most spectators — though noticeably Kim or his top officials — were shown wearing masks. 

Kim Jong Un also didn’t stop to shake hands or allow ordinary people to hug or embrace him during his two most recent large-scale group photo sessions in April. Instead, state TV showed him quickly sitting for photos and waving to thousands of people some distance away.

It was also recently revealed that hundreds of officials attending a party plenum earlier this month were required to have their temperatures checked before entering the venue without masking.

North Korea continues to claim that it has never detected COVID-19 in the country. But Kim’s more selective engagement with large groups of people may suggest that he and his security team have reason to believe that the risk of COVID exposure is increasing inside North Korea — perhaps due to less-than-full confidence in the country’s strict border controls.

It could also be that authorities are simply taking extra precautions, especially as global concerns rise over the rapid spread of more dangerous variants of the coronavirus. North Korea has officially yet to begin vaccinations at any level and the country appears to be preparing for much longer pandemic restrictions than in many other parts of the world.

OPTICS CHANGE?

If Kim has decided to permanently drop his photo-op tradition at key congress events, it would appear to further lessen the importance Kim places on party sub-organizations.

In 2016, North Korea put on a party congress followed by congresses for the youth league, women’s union, federation of trade unions, and agricultural workers’ union — the “transmission belts of the Party,” according to state media.

Kim Jong Un attended just two of these events in person, but appeared at every group photo with attendees after every one of the congresses concluded. Ordinarily, these photo-ops are a big bonus for people attending these congresses because pictures with the North Korean leader increase their social status and display loyalty to the party.

This year, however, Kim has skipped every party sub-organization congress and two photo-ops. It remains to be seen what kind of participation he will opt for at the agricultural workers’ event, which is scheduled for early July.

Ultimately, it’s entirely possible Kim is skipping the post-event photos as part of apparent ongoing efforts to shift traditional leader optics in recent years. For example, he has conspicuously skipped visits to the mausoleum of the former North Korean leaders on otherwise expected dates. 

BACK AT THE BEACH?

Kim may be spending the time saved from attending photo-ops in Pyongyang on one of his luxury yachts off the east coast of North Korea. Satellite imagery suggested he may have been using his leisure boats on the east coast during his long absence in May — coinciding with his dramatic weight loss — and it appears he once again could have been using his yacht in Wonsan around the time the women’s union congress ended last week.

In images from Planet Labs taken on the morning of June 24, Kim’s personal multi-million dollar Princess Yachts vessel, acquired sometime before 2013, appeared to be in use near an island off the coast of Wonsan.

Close friends of the North Korean leader have apparently been allowed to use Kim’s large leisure boats over the years, but it is unlikely that anyone would be allowed on his Princess yacht unless he or his family were there.

The yacht’s movements could also be a form of misdirection since DPRK authorities are well aware that Kim’s Wonsan retreat is under the close watch of satellite imagery observers.

If it was indeed Kim on the yacht last week, that would mean he traveled to Wonsan after the party plenum that was held in mid-June. Jet skis also appeared in action near Kim’s main Wonsan mansion complex earlier in June on days he was not making public appearances. 

Kim Jong Un’s last officially dated appearance was on June 18 to close out the plenum. 

Edited by Arius Derr