# Kim Jong Un conspicuously absent from important celebration **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984 "2014-10-10T17:14:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/1 "2014-10-10T17:14:46Z")
He’s been out of the public eye for more than five weeks, and was seen limping in his last appearance. Even more interesting is the fact that high-ranking NK officials appeared at the Asian Games in South Korea and agreed to re-open talks which have been shut down since 2009. Further information [here](https://news.vice.com/article/why-a-very-specific-kind-of-coup-may-explain-kim-jong-uns-disappearance) and [here](http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/world/asia/north-korea-talks/). I am very encouraged. But then, anything other than status quo strikes me as a positive. Even bad change in NK may prove to be less resilient than the Kim regime has proven to be. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/2 "2014-10-10T18:44:31Z")
He’s off having his pubes corn-rowed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/3 "2014-10-10T18:48:11Z")
Kim Il-Sung had a large growth on one side of his face later in life, and as a result he ordered state journalists to always photograph him from the other side to as to conceal the deformity. Vanity runs in the family, is what I’m saying. It wouldn’t be good for public morale for the Dear Leader to be seen in a state of physical malady, so the likeliest explanation is that Kim isn’t looking his best these days and is keeping out of sight in order to protect his image. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/4 "2014-10-10T19:01:01Z")
Kim Jong-un doesn’t call himself “Dear Leader”. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/5 "2014-10-10T19:02:25Z")
South Korean, American, and Chinese officials all say that their intelligence tells them that all is status quo w/ Un still in charge. My guess is he’s gimped up and doesn’t want to appear weak in public. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/6 "2014-10-10T19:15:24Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Kim Jong-un doesn’t call himself “Dear Leader”. Just saying. Feel free to mentally insert whatever term of affection Mr. Kim actually uses into my above post, in that case, because the point remains the same. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/7 "2014-10-10T19:20:19Z")
Here’s your _Weekend Update_. In breaking news, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is still incommunicado. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/8 "2014-10-10T19:32:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Here’s your _Weekend Update_. In breaking news, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is still incommunicado. He can’t talk? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/9 "2014-10-10T20:26:34Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > He can’t talk? :eek: He’s bilingual. He can’t talk in two different languages! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/10 "2014-10-10T20:31:50Z")
Not sure why he doesn’t have a double like his father was suspected of having. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/11 "2014-10-10T20:35:28Z")
Has anyone checked in with [Seth Rogen James Franco](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interview_(2014_film)#Plot)? ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/12 "2014-10-10T21:52:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Feel free to mentally insert whatever term of affection Mr. Kim actually uses into my above post, in that case, because the point remains the same. Of course. I was just being pedantic. I agree with the point. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/13 "2014-10-10T22:53:39Z")
In other breaking news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/14 "2014-10-10T23:36:44Z")
So is there a number three son ready to step into the role? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/15 "2014-10-11T00:09:53Z")
Kim made the mistake of appearing ostentatious. He marries a hottie trophy wife. Obviously has been eating quite well and noticeably gained weight. He’s wasted money on a ski resort and other useless projects. I don’t think that fit with the regime’s idea of a dear leader. Thats not to say his dad didn’t live well. But he was smart enough not to do it openly. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/16 "2014-10-11T00:11:13Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > So is there a number three son ready to step into the role? Kim Jong-un _is_ the number three son. His two older brothers Kim Jong-nam and Kim Jong-chul were passed over. Jong-nam lost favor because he tried to sneak into Disneyland Tokyo (you can’t make this stuff up), while Jong-chul is apparently the Fredo of the Kim clan (his father supposedly said he is “no good because he is like a little girl”). ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/17 "2014-10-11T00:58:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Kim made the mistake of appearing ostentatious. He marries a hottie trophy wife. Obviously has been eating quite well and noticeably gained weight. He’s wasted money on a ski resort and other useless projects. > > I don’t think that fit with the regime’s idea of a dear leader. > > Thats not to say his dad didn’t live well. But he was smart enough not to do it openly. I remember the ski resort… sort of. Did I not hear that no company was willing to come install ski lifts? I’m sure NK could design and create rudimentary ski-lifts that would work, but I sort of doubt they could do anything hi-tech, or even bordering on safe. Not that safety is a concern there I’m sure. KJU also has a new water park I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/18 "2014-10-11T02:57:20Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > So is there a number three son ready to step into the role? [One report said his sister, Kim Yo-jong, is in charge](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/10/is-kim-jong-uns-sister-now-the-power-behind-the-north-korean-throne). ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/19 "2014-10-11T03:18:54Z")
Maybe Kim Jong-un isn’t even in North Korea any more. Maybe he’s… _ **RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984/20 "2014-10-11T03:24:47Z")
Maybe he’s just a little ronery. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-conspicuously-absent-from-important-celebration/700984.md?page=2)