Kim Jong Un abruptly reappears after 36 days out of the spotlight; orders N Korea to prepare for war

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Business Insider, via Yahoo! News

Business Insider

Kim Jong Un abruptly reappears after 36 days out of the spotlight and orders North Korea to 'prepare for war'

Sophia Ankel
Tue, February 7, 2023 at 7:16 AM EST · 2 min read

-- Kim Jong Un had not been seen in public for 36 days, fueling speculation about his health.

-- But North Korea's leader attended a meeting with military officials on Monday, reports said.

-- He was discussing war strategies as tensions rise around the Korean peninsula, the reports said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un abruptly reappeared after 36 days out of the spotlight as he ordered his country to "prepare for war," according to multiple reports.

Kim was photographed presiding over a meeting of the central military commission of the ruling Workers' Party on Monday, Reuters reported. ... His presence marked the first time he was back in the public eye after more than a month for reasons that have not been made public.

His disappearance raised questions about his health from multiple news outlets. Kim's Jong Un's longest-ever break from the spotlight was in 2014, when he was not seen for 40 days.

{snip}

Before reappearing on Monday, Kim was last seen in another government meeting on January 2, where it was announced that a top military official, Pak Jong Chon, had been fired and replaced, Reuters reported at the time.

Read the original article on Business Insider

https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-kim-jong-un-appears-military-talks-public-hiatus-2023-2

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/kim-jong-un-abruptly-reappears-121645221.html

---

That's just great.

[FredGarvin]

1. Kim Jong Un's threats of war headlines

Are as credible as Trump is in trouble headlines...

[AngryOldDem]

2. Very definition of a loose cannon.

Never know if he’s bloviating to remind the rest of the world that he’s a big, bad dictator who’s still in charge, or if he’s batshit crazy enough to follow through on his threats.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. Someone needs ATTENTION....

And not for the right reasons.

[2naSalit]

9. +1

[bronxiteforever]

20. +2

[Turbineguy]

4. His southern neighbors want to steal

the North's misery and poverty.

[FalloutShelter]

5. NK is sending troops to

Ukraine.

[housecat]

8. That makes less sense than his other ideas

[CaptainTruth]

16. To help Russia in occupied territories.

From the Kyiv Post:

North Korea to Send Military Affiliates to Ukraine’s Occupied Donbas

A South Korean news outlet reports that North Korea will be sending personnel to ostensibly help Russia with reconstruction efforts in the occupied Donbas.

The first group of North Korean citizens, upwards of 500 people, are expected to arrive in the occupied regions of Ukraine by mid-February or March.

[FredGarvin]

23. A source cited by Daily NK

A source cited by Daily NK said the government order that required the deployment of young men between the ages of 19 and 27 was issued on January 20.

Nonsense Russian/NK propaganda

>>The report cited an agreement between Pyongyang and Moscow that allegedly contained a clause protecting North Koreans from being involved in military actions. Thus, the selected personnel would likely participate in the reconstruction works and restoring buildings and roads destroyed during the war.

[FredGarvin]

21. No they aren't

Unless you believe Russian propaganda clown shows

[EX500rider]

46. Troops, no, workers yes:

February 1, 2023: While North Korea has recruited workers to work in Russian occupied portions of Ukraine, there has been a delay as North Korea assembled a force of soldiers and police to accompany the works. This has been done and the North Korean personnel will arrive in Russian occupied Ukraine in about a month. The addition of the North Koreans going to Russia was apparently because Russia is losing the war and it was feared that the North Korean workers would be captured by Ukrainian forces and ask for asylum. The additional military and police personnel will reduce this risk. North Korea has long provided workers to Russia, where they are better fed and housed than in North Korea and paid well. The North Korean government keeps most of the wages but enough is passed on to worker’s families to make foreign work tolerable to families. The several thousand workers needed for service in Ukraine and Western Russia were to work on two-year contracts and be able to keep more of their pay for their families. Even with the better pay, the longer contracts and work in a combat zone discouraged a lot of North Koreans from applying for these jobs. Usually, the government can be selective in selecting men for work in Russia. With these new contracts the government had to accept men who normally would not be considered because they were single and seen as less politically reliable. Those rules have been waived and the first contingent, selected in early November, and two more groups were being processed but none were sent to Russia until the North Korean security personnel could be added. This is insurance against the deteriorating Russian situation in Ukraine getting a lot worse along with the growing unemployment in Russia because of sanctions.

http://strategypage.com/qnd/korea/articles/20230207.aspx

[chowder66]

6. Punxsutawney Un forecasts another year of threats.

[oldsoftie]

10. Thats probably the best description EVER of him.

[chowder66]

29. ....

[Historic NY]

25. LOL

[chowder66]

30. ....

[Kali]

27. LOL!

[chowder66]

31. ....

[NickB79]

35. If he sees his shadow, he tests a nuke!

[chowder66]

37. ....

[MarineCombatEngineer]

57. Perfect.

[chowder66]

59. ....

[louis-t]

7. Reminds me of the Kardashians. When one of them

isn't getting enough attention, they post a new picture of their ass online.

[oldsoftie]

11. At first it thought thats what that balloon was

[Alexander Of Assyria]

22. If leaders of NK were smart and wanted to terrify Americans they would float over a balloon!

Same high level wind currents! China got them on that cheap trick!

[Irish_Dem]

15. +1

[Warpy]

12. That's his shtik, the evil US is preparing an invasion

Sirens sound periodically, then the glorious revolutionary army has repelled the enemy. It's how he stays in total power.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

14. Never mind the massive Western naval exercises every few months near NK shores.

Or the new bases being constructed Philippines. Or the many atolls and islands dotting the Pacific, trophies of other wars.

Purely defensive, I digress.

Lot of sirens sounded in America this past week…over a balloon..

[Warpy]

26. With a Democrat in the White House, of course that balloon was a threat

unlike the previous ones that have sailed overhead during previous administrations.

Republicans are nothing if not predictable.

I think it's pretty obvious why that thing wasn't shot down over land, the instrument package was huge. Republicans were frothing over the ICBM sites, the decommissioned ones, not caring about property damage and death on the ground.

It will be interesting to see what that thing (and previous ones) was carrying. In any case, ET did not phone home this time, unlike during TFG's misadministration.

[EX500rider]

32. "Never mind the massive Western naval exercises every few months near NK shores."

Feel free to link to where the US has "massive" naval exercises "every few months near NK shores"

Guess you can't due to that being BS.

The US does train with allies in the Pacific usually annually and nowhere near NK shores.

[NickB79]

36. Do you think President Biden would authorize an unprovoked attack on N. Korea?

Because that's what you're implying.

And if that's what you're implying, you're probably on the wrong site.

[oldsoftie]

38. Why always taking the side of the communists & believing their tripe?

ESPECIALLY N Korea; who cant even feed their people.
When do we ever have massive naval exercises near NK?

[Igel]

40. We do have naval and military exercises with S. Korea

and sometimes others. And being near South Korea, they're near North Korea.

Then again, when you have a neighbor that basically says your territory is *his* territory, you'd be a fool not to think maybe he's serious. Esp. when he starts working on ballistic missiles, has a huge army, and has developed nuclear warheads.

[soryang]

44. Exactly

Huge military air exercises. B-2 bombers, stealth aircraft etc. Aircraft Carrier strike group returns to South Korea. On top of this the US and South Korea firing artillery and missiles near the DMZ. Nothing to see here. Then there are the public threats of decapitation exercises, preemptive attacks, etc., by the US and South Korea. The South Korean leader proposed the reintroduction of US nuclear weapons to South Korea, or in the alternative South Korea making their own.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

45. Get a load of what a top General said just a few days ago...why is this guy not fired??

The balloon-mania, after all, comes only a few days after Air Force Gen. Michael A. Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, sent out a memo to his subordinates predicting war with China within two years: “I hope I am wrong,” he wrote. “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.” Sounding like one of the unhinged generals in Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire “Dr. Strangelove,” he advised his airmen — who operate and maintain cargo aircraft — to “fire a clip into a 7-meter target” and “aim for the head.”

From Max Boot article in WAPO

Never heard a Chinese General say such things.

[soryang]

48. Right he commands the bus drivers

....he's got a testosterone problem, it's not as sexy as Top Gun. He should have been fired.

[Torchlight]

60. It begs the question, what such things do Chinese generals speak of?

And what sources are we citing?

[EX500rider]

47. Yes, the US trains with their allies, China would but they have no allies, only vassals.

Unless you count Russia, but they are more friendenemies..... and of course Myanmar & North Korea, great company.

[soryang]

49. South Korea is more like a protectorate

...than ally. President Yoon fits in perfectly with the earlier dictatorships, a corrupt far right lap dog basically. His corrupt phalanx of prosecutors are targeting opposition politicians, labor leaders, media critics, activists in civic organizations.

Hopefully Yoon will be impeached soon and the South Koreans can put him in prison where he belongs.

[soryang]

54. knock yourself out

babo

[MarineCombatEngineer]

56. That's the best you got?

Seems the poster knocked you out with accurate info.

Carry on now.

[EX500rider]

61. President Yoon was elected by the people...unlike Xi Jinping

If the S Koreans aren't happy with him they will vote in someone else....unlike China

[MarineCombatEngineer]

51. Wow!!!!

Right on cue.
So predictable.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

13. What's the cutoff number for number of days not seen by western media to make the cut for NEWS!

[CrabbyAppleton]

53. 42

42

Crabby

[AverageOldGuy]

17. The NKoreans . . .

. . . have been ordering their people to "prepare for war" since at least the early 1960's.

[LudwigPastorius]

24. Yeah, they've been at war with South Korea for 72 years and counting.

Kim needs to lose the bluster and go back to penning love letters to his orange soulmate.

[SunSeeker]

18. Those poor people. Their Trump is in office for life. nt

[BradBo]

19. That dude really wants to lose his country.

[twodogsbarking]

28. I think he may be even crazier than Trump. May be a toss up.

[yardwork]

33. Well, happy Valentine's Day to him too.

[PSPS]

34. This isn't new. The "prepare for war" message has been non-stop for 70 years now.

It's blasted over loudspeakers all day, every day, for 70 years. There have been posters all over NK with the same message for 70 years. All of their schools have been including the message in all of their curricula for 70 years.

I guess throwing in the shop-worn phrase into the headline gets more clicks.

[Igel]

41. Here's the problem.

We're sending a lot of munitions to Ukraine, and reports have said it would take quite a while to replenish our stocks.

Then again, we're stressing over Taiwan.

On the one hand, if there's a battle with S. Korea the US is less well equipped to deal with it than at any point in the previous few decades, odds are. And if we devote forces to S. Korea, that means Taiwan's open wide.

On the other, N. Korea's narcissism's not being fed because Ukr and Taiwan are soaking up the attention.

[NutmegYankee]

43. Yes and No.

Taiwan would be a mostly Navy operation, North Korea would be army/marine corp heavy. But it wouldn't be easy.

[AZLD4Candidate]

39. Jabba the Kim struggles to stay relevant outside his borders after his American BFF loses.

No more love letters. Jilted at the alter.

[BigmanPigman]

42. Maybe he had kidney issues like Melanoma did.

Or he was at a fat farm? The last time he disappeared he reappeared about 50 pounds lighter.

[NullTuples]

50. Despot lesson #42: After a bout of COVID, be sure to display power upon your return

[mahatmakanejeeves]

55. North Korea's Kim Jong Un presides over big military parade

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brought his young daughter to a huge military parade showing off the latest hardware of his fast-growing nuclear arsenal, including intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to reach the United States, state media said.

apnews.com
North Korea's Kim Jong Un presides over big military parade
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brought his young daughter to a huge military parade showing off the latest

Link to tweet

[mahatmakanejeeves]

58. Kim Jong Un's Daughter Appears Again in North Korea, Spurring Succession Speculation

Before taking power, North Korean leaders have been kept out of the public eye as children. Now, one child has appeared with leader Kim Jong Un several times.

wsj.com
Kim Jong Un’s Daughter Appears Again in North Korea, Spurring Succession Speculation
Kim Ju Ae accompanied her father to a military banquet this week, after previously attending a flight test of an intercontinental ballistic

Link to tweet

[maxsolomon]

62. That's too bad.

He's #3 on my "I Wish He'd Just Die" list.

Although that wouldn't free NK from the Kim Family's paranoid grip.