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After weeks of intense speculation about Kim Jong-un’s health, state news agency KCNA said Saturday that the North Korean leader attended the completion of a fertilizer plant in northern Pyongyang, the first report of his appearance since April 11.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the KCNA report.
KCNA said Kim cut a ribbon at the ceremony on Friday and that event attendees “erupted into thunderous cheers of” Hooray! “To the Supreme Leader …”
Kim was seen in photographs smiling and talking to helpers at the opening ceremony and also touring the plant. The authenticity of the photos, published on the website of the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun, could not be verified.
Many in the large crowd of people, described as army, ruling party, and community officials working on the project, wore facial masks and were some distance from the podium where Kim and his aides participated in the ceremony.
North Korea has not reported any cases of the coronavirus and has said it has been taking severe measures to prevent an outbreak. One of the reasons for Mr. Kim’s absence has been the suggestion that he might have been taking precautions against the coronavirus.
Kim was accompanied by senior North Korean officials, including his younger sister Kim Yojong and Senior Vice President Pak Pong-ju of the State Affairs Commission and Cabinet Prime Minister Kim Jae-ryong and KCNA said.
When asked about the KCNA report on Kim, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, said: “I prefer not to comment on it yet.”
“We will have something to say about it at the appropriate time,” he told reporters at the White House.
Speculation about Kim’s health has increased after missing the anniversary celebrations of the state’s founder, Kim Il-sung, on April 15. The day is an important holiday in North Korea, and Kim, as the leader, often visits the mausoleum where his grandfather is in the state.
His last public appearance was on April 11, attending a meeting of the ruling politburo of the Workers’ Party.
Following her anniversary absence, a South Korean media outlet in the North reported that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure. A series of other unconfirmed reports of his condition and whereabouts followed.
Officials in South Korea and the United States expressed skepticism about the reports.
State television footage showed on Saturday that Kim’s leg movements seemed stiff and jerky and one image showed a green golf cart in the background, similar to the one he used in 2014 after a long public absence.
“Setting up desks and chairs on stage seemed a bit weird for such an outdoor occasion,” Nam Seong-wook, professor of North Korean studies at the University of Korea, said of the ceremony.
“Kim may have some physical conditions that keep her from standing for a long time and she needs to be sitting after standing for a while.”
Professor Nam said that if Kim cannot stand for long periods, perhaps that is why she did not attend the anniversary event in April at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where she would have had to stand for at least one hour.
The city of Sunchon, where the fertilizer factory was built, is located about 50 km (30 miles) north of Pyongyang, in the western region, away from Wonsan, the eastern seaside resort where South Korean and American officials said Kim could have stayed.
Satellite images showing a train Kim usually uses near the Wonsan resort, as well as the boats Kim and his entourage use, suggest he might stay there.
Officials in South Korea and the United States have said Kim could be there to avoid exposure to the coronavirus, and have expressed skepticism about media reports that she had some form of serious illness.
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