It's kind of obvious to think that this is just a cunning populist move. Thing is, it flies so hard in the face of the usual image of NK leaders, not just Kim's predecessors but himself. I think it's actually possible that he's just an emotionally unstable man-child who bungled his way through his rule with lots of luck and institutional support, but now he's facing his first real real crisis and he's just completely broken down and has no idea what to do.
His sister is stealing his power. Also, even North Koreans can’t hide from COVID 19.