Kim Jong-un appears in public for first time in fortnight
The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in a fortnight with a midnight pilgrimage to his grandfather's tomb in Pyongyang.
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un visits a mausoleum for his deceased father and grandfather at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang Photo: EPA
By Tom Phillips, Shanghai 10:14AM BST 15 Apr 2013
Mr Kim paid tribute to North Korea's founder – and his grandfather – Kim Il-sung, at the start of a three-day national holiday commemorating the 101st anniversary of the Great Leader's birth.
Tensions have been steadily growing on the Korean peninsula since February 12, when North Korea incurred the ire of the international community with an underground nuclear test.
Recent weeks have seen the atmosphere grow increasingly hostile with an almost daily barrage of threats against South Korea, Japan and the United States emanating from Pyongyang.
Yet throughout the turbulent fortnight, North Korea's youthful leader has been nowhere to be seen. Kim Jong-un's last public appearance reportedly came during a parliamentary session on April 1.
On Sunday, South Korean news agency Yonhap noted that Kim's "absence from the public eye ... was not unusual" – apart from the fact that it had come as tensions were running so high.
Mr Kim's failure to show his face had triggered "speculation that he might be tempted to tone down fiery threats of provocations", according to Yonhap.
On Monday, as South Korea's defence minister admitted there were no signs its neighbour was on the verge of starting a "full-scale war", throngs of North Koreans reportedly took to the streets of Pyongyang to celebrate the "Day of the Sun" holiday.
"Although the situation is tense, people have got bright faces and are very happy," Han Kyong Sim, a street vendor, told The Associated Press.
South Korean security chiefs insisted they were prepared for a possible medium-range missile launch.
"As North Korea is believed to provoke at any time depending on its hostile rhetoric and the political and military situation on the Korean Peninsula, we are fully prepared [for an attack]," Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary committee on Monday, according to Yonhap.
