[ad_1]
SEOUL: North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said on Saturday (May 2) that leader Kim Jong Un attended the completion of a fertilizer plant in a region north of the capital Pyongyang in the first report of its public activity since April 11.
Kim “attended the ceremony” on Friday and “all participants erupted in thunderous cheers of ‘Hooray!'” When he appeared, the Korean Central News Agency said.
Ad
He also inspected the facilities and was “briefed on production processes,” according to the report.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the KCNA report.
There was speculation about his health 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 a leader often visits the mausoleum where his grandfather is in the state. .
This image taken on May 1, 2020 and published by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 2, 2020 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visiting the Suchon phosphate fertilizer factory in the province of South Pyongan, North Korea. (Photo: STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
Kim has not made a public appearance since he chaired a Workers’ Party politbureau meeting on April 11, and the next day state media reported on him inspecting fighter jets in an air defense unit.
READ: Satellite Images of Luxury Vessels Suggest North Korea’s Kim Is in Favorite Villa: Experts
READ: Kim Jong Un may be trying to avoid coronavirus, says South Korea
A high-security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in said less than a week ago that Kim was “alive and well”, downplaying rumors that he was sick or disabled.
The adviser, Moon Chung-in, told CNN that Kim had been staying in Wonsan, a resort town in eastern North Korea, since April 13, adding: “So far no suspicious movements have been detected. “
Daily NK, an online media outlet primarily run by North Korean defectors, reported that Kim was on treatment after a cardiovascular procedure last month.
Citing an unidentified source within the country, he said Kim, who is in his 30s, had needed urgent treatment due to smoking, obesity and fatigue.
Soon after, CNN reported that Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was “in grave danger” after undergoing surgery, citing what he said was an unnamed United States official.
United States President Donald Trump appeared to confirm that Kim was alive earlier this week, but declined to comment Friday on Kim’s revival.
Kim’s previous absences from the public eye have sparked speculation about his health.
Kim’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, had been dead for two days before someone outside the innermost circles of the North Korean leadership was wiser.
In 2014, Kim Jong Un disappeared from sight for almost six weeks before reappearing with a cane. Days later, South Korea said it had undergone surgery to remove a cyst from its ankle.
