Kim Jong-un Appears in Public, North Korean State Media Reports

After long-running rumors that the North Korean dictator might be dead, Kim Jong-un appeared in public for the first time in 20 days, North Korean state-run media reports, according to BBC reports. 

KCNA newsgroup reported that Kim Jong-un cut the ribbon at the inaugural opening of a fertilizer factory.

The state-controlled media adds that the public at the factory "broke into thunderous cheers of hurrah" when their leader appeared on Friday.

The reported attendance at the factory opening is his first public appearance since an event on state media, which comes amidst a global rumor over his health, writes the BBC.

The up-to-date accounts from North Korean media could not be ‘independently confirmed’. The KCNA later discharged images that they claimed to show Mr. Kim cutting a red tape outside a factory.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seemed to fuel the rumors on Kim’s health, by saying that US officials "hadn't seen" Mr. Kim recently.

Nevertheless, an official account from the South Korean government and informants from the Chinese intelligence spoke to the Reuters news agency and stated that these rumors were not true.

Source: BBC

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Image: Reuters