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11/02/2024 05:23:27 pm

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Kim Jong-un Still In Power Despite Continued Public Absence, Says Top U.S. Official

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

(Photo : Reuters/KCNA) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gives his New Year address in Pyongyang in this picture released by state-run KCNA news agency on January 1, 2013.

There appears to be no indication of "transfer of power" in North Korea despite the prolonged absence of its Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, said U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice on Sunday.

North Korea's state media have yet to broadcast the latest news about its dictator who was missing during the country's most important national holiday celebration last Friday.

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The event marked the founding anniversary of the Worker's Party, in which his father, the late Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, and North's founder, Kim Il-sung, were members.

According to state media reports, Kim did not preside over paying tributes at the shrine where the deceased North Korean leaders' remains lie. In his place was his top military aide, Hwang Pyong So.

Rice said  there is presently no evidence that the reclusive leader has been deposed.

She added that the United States is closely following the developments in secretive North, reported The Huffington Post.

Kim was last seen in public on September 3, when he was featured limping while attending a music concert in Pyongyang with his wife, Ri Sol-ju.

His prolonged disappearance, particularly his Friday's absence from a state duty he is known to have never missed in his three-year reign, has further fuelled rumors of his ill health and whether he is still the ruling power of the regime.

Reuters reported last week of an unnamed source intimating details of how Kim hurt his leg from a military drill around late August or early September.

The source, who has access to North's leadership, emphasized that Kim is still running the country's government, but requires 100 days to recuperate.

The newspaper has not been able to independently verify the source's information.

An earlier televised state-sponsored documentary mentioned a "discomfort" the Kim is suffering from. Official North Korean statements have denied, however, that the leader's disappearance is linked to any health-related concern, reported Reuters.  

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