Kim Jong-un misses Workers' Party event amid rumours North Korean leader has been ousted

[Mister Nightowl]

Source: The Independent (UK)

Heather Saul
Friday 10 October 2014

The absence of Kim Jong-un at the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party has further fuelled speculation as to the whereabouts of the North Korean leader.

Kim has not been seen in public for a month, prompting wide-ranging rumours that the overweight leader has finally succumbed to his addiction to Swiss cheese, is suffering from gout, or has even been moved out of the state capital after an attempted coup.

The 31-year-old apparently did not attend the 69th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's Workers' Party on Friday, a major event in the state calendar. An official state media dispatch listed senior government, military and party officials who paid their respects at the ceremony, but not Kim.

It said a flower basket with Kim's name on it was placed before statues of his father and grandfather, both of whom also ruled North Korea. State media said earlier that the might of the party "is growing stronger under the seasoned guidance of Marshal Kim Jong-un".

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kim-jongun-misses-workers-party-event-amid-rumours-north-korean-leader-has-been-deposed-9786422.html

---

I'll sticking to the "corpse" theory.

Note to mods: This is not the same item I posted about Kim not visiting the shrine; the fact that he has missed this major Party gathering is much more significant.

[Trajan]

1. I could swear that I read, somewhere ...

That a general, or a number of generals, from North Korea, crossed the border into South Korea this last week for discussions with South Korean military officials ...

I'm going to see if I can find that ... it is germane to this story.

EDIT: http://news.yahoo.com/top-north-korean-leaders-attend-asian-games-yonhap-002722118.html

[Trajan]

2. That story, combined with the absence of the 'great leader'

Makes me think there HAS been a military coup, and that the NK generals are seeking an opening with the south ...

THAT would be a momentous event ...

[C Moon]

7. That would be fantastic!

[awoke_in_2003]

14. If, and when, the country is unified again...

it will make the German reunification look like a cake walk. 50+ years of brainwashing is going to take some time to undo.

[Marrah_G]

18. And just think of how hi tech SK is and how behind NK is

It's going to be very difficult to bring the two now very different cultures together again.

[awoke_in_2003]

22. difficult...

but they will figure it out, I think.

[Marrah_G]

23. Yup- might just take a generation or two

The brainwashing in NK runs very deep.

[madokie]

26. But I think even with the brain washing that the people in the north

have to know some of what is really going on in the real world to the point that they will be willing participants to this reunification so it will happen quickly. Theres a lot of family between the north and south so that will be more than welcome for them to get a chance to reunite.
I'm holding out hope anyway.

[Volaris]

21. Sadly I agree...

It will take a multi-generational effort of patience, compromise, and NOT following the path of wild-west style Corporate Oligarchic Capitalism that has thrown the former USSR into such painful socioeconomic disarray.
And not just on the part of the South Korean population. PEACEFUL re-unification of Korea will require a Global Effort, and the goal MUST NOT be "how much money can we make off this deal?".

It IS an accomplish-able goal, but this isn't something the population of the Peninsula can't do by themselves (as the general population of the North CERTAINLY hasn't the first damned clue what their role should be, and the economy of the South isn't equipped to handle what is basically a whole nations worth of economic refugees) and it won't happen without a very clear plan, with VERY clear goals, on a VERY VERY open-ended calender.

Undoing the kind of social brainwashing endemic to NKorea isn't something you do on the fly, and it ISN'T something that ONE President can get done. Also, I think this will serve as quite a good test-case for whether or not Americas, as a self-governing body-politic, actually have the capacity to kick HARD the "yapping terriers of ignorance" (as Dawkins calls them) as necessary to the greater worldwide Good.

Because seriously, I don't know if we do at this moment in History.

[NYC Liberal]

16. A good article from VICE that has a theory related to that:

https://news.vice.com/article/why-a-very-specific-kind-of-coup-may-explain-kim-jong-uns-disappearance

To hazard a guess as to what has happened: It is possible that the OGD has decided to remove Kim Jong-un as a figurehead.

There are seemingly reasons to do so. North Korea has struggled for more than a year to find a source of money to replace aid from China that was reduced following North Korea's third nuclear test in February 2013. The regime probably needs that aid to secure the political loyalty of the Pyongyang elite. Although they now enjoy much better access to restaurants, coffee houses, and consumer goods than they did just a few years ago, they have been steadily learning how poor they are compared to the Chinese — let alone the South Koreans — and demanding more goodies that the regime is struggling to provide.

The regime has tried to secure significant investment from Russia, and senior North Korean officials have toured other countries in Europe trying to find money there too. Both efforts have failed, and it is hard to see where the regime could now turn for financial assistance other than to South Korea. Perhaps Kim resisted reaching out to the arch rival, and the OGD decided that, for the regime as a whole to survive, Kim had to go.

Some have said that if there were a coup, bloodless or otherwise, then we should observe movements of people and of the military that do not seem to be occurring. A classic coup might provoke such movements, but a silent takeover by the OGD probably would not. The North Korean military are under the command of the Korean Workers Party, and if the OGD decided to take Kim out of the limelight, it would be simple to instruct the party to order the military to carry on as usual. And with the OGD continuing to run the country, it would be business as usual for North Korean civilians.

[davidpdx]

30. As I've said on other places I highly doubt it

The North always seems to come crawling back to the table when they need something. Also take into account his absence has been during the Asian Games taking place in South Korea. It could be they were convinced to tone down the rhetoric while the games were going on in lieu of something (rice would be a good guess).

[dlwickham]

4. and the link doesn't work

[Trajan]

6. try again ...

Let me know if it is also defective

[davidpdx]

27. Yes, they did for the Asian Games and then dinner

I live on the other side of the highway from Incheon, so they were perhaps with in 10-15 km of my house. It was unexpected and caught quite a few South Koreans off-guard.

[Historic NY]

3. Has his bride been seen?

[sabbat hunter]

5. No

but his sister has been seen, at events, meetings, etc that he normally would be at.

[Historic NY]

13. Interesting an internal family struggle???

or are they just keeping a few around for figure heads.

[Quixote1818]

8. He was a complete and utter nut-burger and everyone around him knew it.

Will not be surprised if he was killed off. Hopefully, something good will come from it if he was taken out.

[SoapBox]

15. What you said!

[Jack Rabbit]

9. You know how hereditary monarchies deal with unwanted monarchs?

We may never hear of Kim Jong Un again.
Not that I care.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. In this case? The family made claims that they were godlike....

I wouldn't be surprised if they announced that he had moved on into another celestial plane.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. I don't think so

The family made claims that they were godlike....

Snd that makes the Kim different from the Bourbons or the Romanovs how?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. They didn't claim they were "Heaven Sent"....

When Kim Jong-Il died the state media claimed that ice on a lake cracked "so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth" as the skies above sacred Mt. Paektu glowed red." "Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong-il, born of Heaven, after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him." Another report by the KCNA said the snowfall on the border of North and South Korea Wednesday showed the intensity of nature’s mourning. Oh, and he not only claimed his shit didn't stink but that he never had to take one in his entire life. (Due to his being a supernatural being)

The son? He could drive at 3.

Oh,...and he rides a unicorn.



The Romanovs and Boubons?

All that happened with them was a bang and a chop.

[Jack Rabbit]

24. The Bourbons and Romanovs claimed . . .

. . . that they ruled by divine right as God's representatives on earth. Of course, that was as much steer manure as these tales about snowfall in the DMZ and riding unicorns.

So, I return to my question . . . the Kims are different than the Bourbons and the Romanovs how?

The fact that the Bourbons ended with a chop and the Romanovs with a bang is exactly my point, only that the end hasn't come for the Kims yet.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. ALL of the kings and queens of old were TOLD they had a divine right to rule....

That was because Church and State were one and the same and the Church had the power to pick which rich families were to rule over us lesser beings.

I'm sure it was a blend of loyalty and bribery that scored the first positions. Once the "Royals" were established it became a farce to actually believe they were somehow divine. Over time the Royals and Nobles learned they couldn't push things too far. Charles the first of England being a fine example.

[JimDandy]

10. I was going with corpse by firing squad since it's the Generals running around.

Wonder what our State Dept and CIA peeps are digging up on his whereabouts?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. "Wonder what our State Dept and CIA peeps are digging up on his whereabouts?"

Knowing them? They offered him a trailer in Miami.

[Kaleva]

17. He's probably just hanging low with Jimmy Hoffa

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. No, this is exactly what you posted about, a day ago

Your first one:

(CNN) -- The mystery of Kim Jong Un's whereabouts deepened Friday after the North Korean leader appeared to have missed a ceremony to pay tribute to his late father and grandfather on what is an important national anniversary.

Kim's name was absent from the list of attendees at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on the 69th anniversary of the Workers' Party of North Korea, issued by state news agency KCNA on Friday.

The Workers' Party, founded in 1945, is North Korea's political party and is considered one of the country's most crucial institutions alongside the military.

According to KCNA, flowers were presented at the shrine in Kim's name, but the most senior official to attend was Hwang Pyong So, North Korea's second most important leader, who recently attended the closing ceremony of the 17th Asian Games in South Korea.

And the 2nd:

The 31-year-old apparently did not attend the 69th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's Workers' Party on Friday, a major event in the state calendar. An official state media dispatch listed senior government, military and party officials who paid their respects at the ceremony, but not Kim.

It said a flower basket with Kim's name on it was placed before statues of his father and grandfather, both of whom also ruled North Korea. State media said earlier that the might of the party "is growing stronger under the seasoned guidance of Marshal Kim Jong-un".

Both are about the 69th anniversary of the party, and flowers being laid, in Kim's name, at a shrine to his father and grandfather. You could redirect people to your earlier thread, and self-delete this.

[davidpdx]

29. I highly doubt Kim is dead

There seem to be a lot of CT stories going around about this. I tend to be skeptical of the rumors.

[samsingh]

31. i tend to agree. we're all going to be disappointed

he's probably suffering from gout or something and when it clears up he'll be back in the limelight.

but we can hope that he's been removed.

[davidpdx]

32. I'll post the link from the other thread as to other information people aren't factoring in

I as much as anyone wish it were true, but I think he's actually (most likely) being quieted because of several things over the past month:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5651885