Kim Jong-Un (file)
Kim Jong-Un (file)Reuters

Kim Jong-Un, the autocratic leader of North Korea, missed a key anniversary of his Workers' Party at a mausoleum on Friday according to state media, for the first time since taking power in 2011.

Kim hasn't been seen in public since attending a concert on September 3. In his last filmed appearance in July he was seen more overweight than usual and walking with a pronounced limp.

That led to speculations that he is ill, which his government has been denying, even after earlier admitting he was feeling "discomfort." This is the longest period Kim hasn't been seen since assuming office.

In the ceremony on Friday, the 69th anniversary of the party was held at the mausoleum for Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, Jong-Un's father. However, Kim's name was not on the list of attendees, reports BBC.

There have been rumors that Kim may be suffering from gout given the symptoms observed in his last appearance, and other rumors posit that Kim has been the subject of a coup or suffered a stroke.

However, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesperson Lim Byeong-Cheol was quoted by the Yonhap News Agency as saying "it seems that Kim Jong-Un's rule is in normal operation. With regard to his specific health conditions, our government has no information to confirm yet."

Kim's iron rule and atrocities against his own people were detailed in a February UN report, saying the atrocities are "strikingly similar" to those of the genocidal Nazi regime in World War II. The report added that "the gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world."

The dictator has even made such quirky edicts as requiring in March that all North Koreans must have his "Dear Leader" haircut -  he has also threatened nuclear war on his southern neighbor and Japan.