Ministry of Unification: "Difficult to Understand Why Kim Jong-un Does Not Wear a Mask Alone"

"Kim Jong-un's Artillery Fire Guidance and Pyongyang Absence Rumors, No Comments"

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is observing an artillery firing competition between the artillery units under the 7th and 9th Corps of the Korean People's Army on the 12th. Kim is the only one not wearing a mask alone.

On the 13th, the Ministry of Unification stated that it is "difficult to publicly comment on matters that North Korea has not officially disclosed" regarding the recent appearances of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un not wearing a mask alone in public.

At a regular briefing held at the Government Seoul Office Building on the same day, Ministry of Unification Deputy Spokesperson Cho Hye-sil responded this way when asked about the background of Chairman Kim's maskless appearances.

North Korea has recently been reporting on Kim's military activities and releasing related photos, in all of which Kim is seen not wearing a mask. This contrasts with all the surrounding aides, who are wearing black masks.

Some analysts suggest that this might be a staged image considering the psychological stability of North Korean residents and the image of the supreme leader.

Regarding Kim's on-site guidance of the artillery competition held that day, Deputy Spokesperson Cho said, "The Ministry of Unification has no special comments on such military activities or their significance."

The Ministry of Unification also refrained from commenting on speculations that Kim has been absent from Pyongyang since the end of last month.

Deputy Spokesperson Cho said, "We are aware of various analyses through reports," but added, "There is no information to disclose regarding Chairman Kim's whereabouts."

Regarding the COVID-19 situation in North Korea, the Ministry reiterated its previous stance that "no confirmed cases have been reported so far."

Deputy Spokesperson Cho said, "North Korean media continue to announce that no confirmed or infected cases have occurred," and added, "Considering that confirmed cases must be reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), we are closely monitoring North Korea's announcements."

On the 12th, Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, supervised an artillery firing competition between the artillery units under the 7th Corps and the 9th Corps of the Korean People's Army, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 13th.
The Korean Central News Agency did not disclose the specific location.

Meanwhile, North Korea's state-run media Korean Central News Agency reported on the same day that "Comrade Kim Jong-un guided the artillery competition of the artillery units under the 7th and 9th Corps of the Korean People's Army on March 12."

At the event, Chairman Kim emphasized, "Always keep in mind that modern warfare is artillery warfare and preparation for artillery combat is preparation for the People's Army's combat readiness," and set tasks such as ensuring the mobility of artillery units, rapid and accurate firing, training according to regulations, maintaining constant combat mobilization readiness, and training formats and methods suited to modern warfare and actual combat.

The training is presumed to have mainly involved conventional towed artillery and appears to be part of the joint strike training of the army, navy, and air force, which has been underway as winter training since February 28.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.