North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might be turning 40, but some people are not sure.
The leader of North Korea has never told anyone his birthday, so no one knows when it is.
If what people are saying is true, he turned the milestone age on Monday. On that day, official pictures of him and his daughter visiting a chicken farm were also released.
The quiet day is very different from the days of the people who came before him.
Actually, the birthdays of his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung – big, national celebrations when they were in charge – are still celebrated as holidays today.
It is not known why the suggested date of 8 January is a secret. Before, North Korean officials said thank you to Donald Trump for his birthday wishes in January 2020, but they didn’t say which day.
More proof of the date came out six years ago. Dennis Rodman, a US basketball player, sang happy birthday to Kim Jong Un in front of a big crowd.
Gilsup Kwak, the leader of One Korea Center, a website that focuses on North Korea, thinks there are several reasons why there is no information about his mother Ko Yong Hui. One reason is that she was supposedly born in Japan.
Many people in North Korea still don’t trust Japan, which ruled the region from 1910 to 1945. This could hurt Kim Jong Un‘s claims about his family. So, people haven’t talked about it much. Making a big deal about his birthday might lead to getting attention he doesn’t want.
“Mr Kwak said that the truth about Kim Jong Un’s birth is something that could make him vulnerable. ”
But there are many other reasons, he says, such as thinking that honoring his ancestors and family is sufficient, and wanting to show himself as a down-to-earth leader.
Some people think that his age is the issue. Experts say that older leaders in North Korea think that their ruler is still too young, even though they made his father’s birthday an official holiday when he turned 40.