Kim Jong Un made an appearance at a May Day celebration, at which he was pictured smiling and laughing, North Korean state-run media has reported. This would be the leader’s first public appearance in about three weeks after global speculation over his health, as per the report.
Kim spoke to officials at an event to celebrate Labor Day and inaugurates a fertilizer plant, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“When the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Manufacturing Plant goes into operation, it will represent a historical development in our country’s fertilizer industry, it will be a glorious revolution and a splendid display of our nation’s great economic potential, and it will be an uplifting banner that assures us of the achievements of our country’s general economic frontline,” Kim said, according to the KCNA report.
The report added that Kim “expressed satisfaction about the wonderful creation” and congratulated staff from Kim Chaek University of Technology, “repeatedly stressing that talents are a great source and a motive power of the development of the country.”
State-run media North Korean Central Television broadcast a video of Kim’s purported appearance at the celebration, where Kim can be seen walking, sitting on a stage alongside his sister Kim Yo Jong and other North Korean officials, smiling and laughing heartily. KCNA also released a still photograph purportedly showing Kim at the ceremony. The picture shows him cutting a red ribbon, with his sister Kim Yo Jong behind him.
