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 North Korea's state media, which usually chronicle Kim's
activities in great detail, have not mentioned any public
appearances since he attended a concert with his wife on Sept. 3 and
the official KCNA news agency indicated he did not attend an
important political anniversary on Friday.
In the previous two years, Kim marked the anniversary of the
founding of North Korea's Workers' Party with a post-midnight visit
to the Pyongyang mausoleum where the bodies of his father and
grandfather are interred.
But the report by KCNA did not mention Kim's name in a list of
high-level party and military officials who attended an event at the
mausoleum on Friday. A flower basket from Kim was placed at the
mausoleum, it said.
The source with access to the North's leadership, who has close ties
to Pyongyang and Beijing, said on Thursday that Kim had hurt his leg
while inspecting military exercises.
"He ordered all the generals to take part in drills and he took part
too. They were crawling and running and rolling around, and he
pulled a tendon," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
 "He injured his ankle and knee around late August or early September
while drilling because he is overweight. He limped around in the
beginning but the injury worsened," the source said.
Kim, who has rapidly gained weight since coming to power after his
father died of a heart attack in 2011, had been seen walking with a
limp since an event with important officials in July, which would
imply he may have aggravated an earlier injury.
Kim needs about 100 days to recuperate, said the source, whose
information could not be independently verified.
"Kim Jong Un is in total control," said the source.
Kim's absence from public view is fuelling speculation over the
state of his health and whether he may have been sidelined in a
power struggle.
"The longer he remains out of the public eye, the more uncertainty
about him, and the status of his regime, will grow," said Curtis
Melvin, a researcher at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.
NOT KIM'S FIRST ABSENCE
On Friday, South Korea's Unification Ministry said it believes Kim
remains in charge, citing a message conveyed by him via a delegation
visiting last weekend, and Pyongyang's continued public position
that Kim leads the country.
"So it appears it is being normally ruled by Kim Jong Un," ministry
spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said.
North Korean officials have denied that Kim's public absence since
early September is health-related and a U.S. official following
North Korea said this week there were no indications he was
seriously ill or in political trouble.
It remains unclear why a leg injury would keep Kim out of the public
eye for so long, although this is not the first time he has been
missing from view.
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In June 2012, six months after coming to power, state media failed
to report on or photograph him for 23 days. Kim re-appeared the
next month when he was reported attending a show at a dolphinarium.
Speculation that Kim's unusually long absence from public view may
be due to ill health was fueled by a North Korean television report
late last month that said he was suffering from "discomfort".
Some North Korea watchers also suggest that Kim may have been
sidelined in a power struggle, a scenario they say was reinforced by
the unexpected visit on Saturday of a high-level delegation to the
closing ceremony of the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Another interpretation of that visit holds that it was meant to
convey stability in Pyongyang.
The source with knowledge of Kim Jong Un's health said rumors of a
coup were "rubbish".
"It would have to be a very subtle coup indeed not to disrupt
international travel plans," said Andray Abrahamian of the Choson
Exchange, a Singapore-based group running a program for North
Koreans in Southeast Asia.
North Korea is a hereditary dictatorship centered on the ruling Kim
family. Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, is known to have an official role
within the ruling party. His brother, Kim Jong Chol, and his
estranged half-brother are not in the public eye.
Kim was absent from a Sept. 25 meeting of the Supreme People's
Assembly, or parliament, the first he has not attended since coming
to power three years ago.
Abrahamian said it was unlikely Kim had been usurped.
"Kim Jong Un has always shared power with other key figures and even
if the internal balance of power has shifted, it is unlikely that
they would want to remove him, given his unmatchable symbolic value.
Again, though, everyone is guessing," he said.
(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Writing by Tony Munroe;
Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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