The glaring omissions have sparked wild speculation in the secretive state with many questioning why such basic details were left out of the new book: “Comrade Kim Jong-un’s Revolutionary History”. The biography has been sent out to libraries, educational institutions, factories and companies across the country to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the 1945 founding of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party.
One official said: “But if you read the biography, it is very strange that it does not reveal when and where the Highest Dignity was born.
“It is nonsensical to leave out the date and place of birth in a history book about the life of a head of state.
“So now there is growing suspicion that authorities are afraid of revealing his birthplace for some reason.”
Kim is believed to have been born on January 8, 1984 but North Korean state media has previously said he was born in 1982.
The biography begins with Kim’s studies at Kim Il Sung Military University and makes no mention of his childhood years or time spent as a student in Switzerland.
Another insider said: “Most officials and intellectuals know that the supreme leader has learned of the outside world because of his childhood of studying aboard.
“Nevertheless, the book only emphasizes that while he attended Kim Il Sung Military University, he ‘made a great plan to open new paths for socialist construction by breaking through the rigorous difficulties of history with an inexhaustible military power’.”
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But while the omission of Kim’s birthplace might have become a talking point among North Korean’s intellectuals, ordinary citizens insist they have more to worry about.
One said: “We can’t afford to care about the supreme leader. Our television needs electricity. We can learn about his revolutionary activities once that happens.
“I don’t know when I’ll ever have time to care. I’m killing myself here to make a living. We need electricity. Then we can know what the supreme leader is up to.”
The leader’s latest public appearance came yesterday when he presided over a meeting of the politburo of the ruling Workers Party and stressed the need to carry out economic policies with responsibility.
North Korea has endured a tough year with the coronavirus pandemic piling more pressure on an economy already battered by international sanctions aimed at stopping its nuclear program.
The politburo harshly criticized the economic guidance organs for failing to provide scientific guidance for economic tasks ahead of a congress next year.
State media KCNA said: “It stressed the need to put the operation and command for carrying out the Party’s economic policies on a scientific basis and display great dedication and responsibility.”