North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, resurfaced in public view on Friday, the North’s state news media reported Saturday, controverting three weeks of rumors and unconfirmed news reports that he was in grave danger after undergoing heart surgery.

 

He appeared at a ceremony at a factory in Sunchon, the North’s state media said. The report has not been independently confirmed.

 

Mr. Kim, 36, last appeared publicly on April 11. Speculation about his health — and about who would take over the hermetic country with a nuclear arsenal should he become incapacitated or die — began swirling after Mr. Kim missed the state celebrations of his country’s biggest holiday on April 15. On that day the country marks the birthday of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea.

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As recently as Friday, before the report in the North’s state media, Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector who recently won a seat in the South Korean Parliament, told reporters that he was “99 percent sure” that Mr. Kim had died last weekend.

 

I think the fact that the North Korea’s leader did not appear on the public doesn’t confirm the fact of his death. Despite a decent level of medicine in North Korea, the country's leader is still an ordinary person, capable of experiencing illness and stress. Thus, at the moment, the head of state can fight a cold / nervous breakdown, which does not allow him to appear in public.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/world/asia/kim-jong-un-resurfaces.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage