Seoul, South Korea ? Where in the world is Kim Jong Il?

The North Korean dictator hasn’t appeared in public since his country test-fired missiles last month. Kim usually visits military units a few times a month to bolster his “songun,” or “military-first,” policy that rewards the 1.1 million-member military with the country’s scarce resources despite chronic food shortages.

His conspicuous absence has some speculating about a possible crisis inside the reclusive nation, especially after last month’s hard rains.

Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea analyst at the independent Sejong Institute, attributed Kim’s latest absence to massive floods in North Korea, saying he has shied from the public in times of crisis in the past.

“Kim is refraining from public activities as he is in a serious internal crisis,” Cheong said.

The rain killed at least 549 people and left 295 others missing while flooding more than 48,000 acres of farmland and destroying nearly 4,500 homes, according to a pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan.