North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un Makes First Public Appearance Nearly Three Weeks After Death Rumours
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance since speculation about his health began last month.
He was seen cutting the ribbon at the opening of a fertilizer factory on Friday,Korean Central News Agency reported.
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Photos from the event were released by the media agency. One of the photos showed Kim smiling and talking to aides at the ceremony and the other showed him touring the plant, but the authenticity of the photos is yet to be verified.
The dictator was accompanied by several senior North Korean officials including his younger sister Kim Yo Jong.
Kim attended the ceremony on Friday and “all the participants broke into thunderous cheers of ‘hurrah!’” when he appeared, the KCNA said.
He also inspected the facility and was “briefed about the production processes”.
KCNA added that Kim “said with deep emotion” that his grandfather Kim Il Sung and father Kim Jong Il “would be greatly pleased if they heard the news that the modern phosphatic fertilizer factory has been built.”
Kim has not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers’ Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the following day state media reported that he went inspecting fighter jets at an air defence unit.
Speculations over his health had grown since he was absent on April 15, a day set aside for the birthday celebration of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North Korea’s founder — the most important day in the country’s political calendar.
Following his absence from the anniversary, a South Korean news outlet specialising on the North reported Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure, Daily Mail reports.
Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim, who is in his mid-30s, had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.
A top security advisor to South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said less than a week ago that Kim was “alive and well,” downplaying rumors that he was ill or incapacitated.
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The advisor, Moon Chung-in, told CNN that Kim had been staying in Wonsan — a resort town in the east of North Korea — since April 13, adding: “No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”
Afterwards, CNN reported that Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in “grave danger” after undergoing surgery, quoting what it said was an anonymous US official.
US President Donald Trump appeared to confirm that Kim was alive earlier this week, debunking rumours of incapacitation or even death of the Leader.
When US President Donald Trump was asked about the KCNA report, he said;
I’d rather not comment on it yet. We’ll have something to say about it at the appropriate time.
North Korea is extremely secretive, and doubly so about its leadership.
Previous absences from the public eye on Kim’s part have prompted speculation about his health.
In 2014, Kim Jong Un dropped out of sight for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane.
Days later, the South’s spy agency said he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle.
Kim’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il had been dead for two days before anyone outside the innermost circles of North Korean leadership was aware.
