Has Kim Jong-un's sister taken power in North Korea?

Leader Kim Jong Un in a recent appearance. (Source: DM)

This is the first time in three years that Mr. Kim has not attended an event held in Pyongyang, marking the 69th anniversary of the party's founding.

While Kim was not present, a flower basket with his name on it was placed before statues of his father and grandfather, both of whom also led North Korea.

Kim's absence comes amid growing speculation that his sister Kim Yo-jong, 24, has taken over as leader, while her brother is recovering from a leg injury, the Daily Mail said.

Mr Kim, 31, has not been seen in public since September 3. He was spotted walking with a limp and looking fatter than usual in photos released before that time.

An official document released by North Korea last month said Kim was “in poor health,” leading the international community to speculate he was seriously ill.

In Seoul, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said it appeared Mr. Kim was still in charge of key issues. He pointed out that a delegation of senior North Korean officials who visited South Korea last week sent a congratulatory message to President Park Geun-hye.

North Korean state media has also reported that Mr. Kim is unwell. Some sources estimate that Mr. Kim injured his leg while performing physical exercises with some generals and will need up to 100 days to fully recover.

North Korea has said nothing about Kim’s absence. But this is not the first time he has retreated from the spotlight. Kim was absent for three weeks in 2012. Because Pyongyang publicly acknowledged that Kim was feeling “unwell,” many experts believe he is unlikely to be seriously ill. When Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, suffered major health problems toward the end of his rule, state media said nothing.

But each day that passes without Mr. Kim’s presence has fueled speculation. He was reportedly absent from a meeting of North Korea’s parliament late last month. He also did not show up at a meeting this week to celebrate Kim Jong Il’s election as leader of the ruling party.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Japan's Waseda University who has studied North Korean affairs extensively, said Mr Kim's sister is now in control of the situation.

“Kim’s sister may be young, but she already holds some of the key leadership positions in North Korea, relying on her family name and bloodline to get her orders done,” he told the Telegraph. “Who would dare touch the Kim family, never mind that she is young, inexperienced and female. She is a member of the Kim family and that is enough.”

According to South Korea's JoongAng Daily, Kim Yo-jong now schedules his daily activities and even decides what he wears and what hairstyle he has.

Mr. Kim Jong Un was absent from the celebration of the founding anniversary of the Korean Workers' Party. (Source: AP)

Previously, a high-ranking source in the North Korean government still affirmed that Kim Jong-un was in power. This source said that he had only temporarily retired from politics due to a leg injury.

“He asked all his generals to do physical exercises and he did them with them,” the source told Reuters. “They were rolling and crawling and he strained his ligaments. He injured his knee and ankle in late August or early September because he was overweight. He was limping at first, but the injury got worse.”

Mr. Kim has been limping since July. If the Reuters informant is correct, it is likely that the new injury has caused a recurrence of the old ones. He was last seen in public when he attended a concert with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, on September 3. He then disappeared.

The longer Kim remains out of the public eye, the more speculation will grow about him and his regime, according to Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute. Some other North Korea watchers have even suggested that Kim may have been sidelined in an internal power struggle.

However, Reuters sources downplayed these comments, saying the coup rumors were “rubbish”./.

According to VNA