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WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said Saturday (May 2) that he was “happy” about the reappearance of Kim Jong Un and that the North Korean leader is apparently healthy.
“For my part, I’m glad to see he’s back, and well!” Trump tweeted, following Kim’s first public appearance in nearly three weeks after intense speculation that he was seriously ill or possibly dead.
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North Korean state television showed Kim walking, smiling broadly and smoking a cigarette at what the North said was the opening of a fertilizer factory in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang on Friday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the completion of a fertilizer plant, along with his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, in a region north of the capital Pyongyang, in this image released by the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 2. , 2020. KCNA / via REUTERS
READ: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un makes first public appearance in 20 days: State media
READ: Why is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s health important?
Rumors about Kim’s health have been circulating since his apparent absence at the April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the founder of the North, the most important day in the country’s political calendar.
His absence triggered a series of feverish rumors and unconfirmed reports of his condition.
Kim’s disappearance from public opinion came as Pyongyang’s talks with Washington over the North’s nuclear arsenal are stalled, despite three meetings between Kim and Trump.
If Kim had been disabled or died, the uncertainty about the process would have increased.
Trump had downplayed reports of Kim’s poor health and possible death.
