There are no signs North Korean leader Kim Jong-un received heart surgery when he disappeared from state media for three weeks, but he reduced public activity due to coronavirus concerns, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday. Kim attended the completion of a fertiliser plant, North Korea’s official media said on Saturday, the first report of his appearing in public since April 11. His absence fuelled a flurry of speculation about his health and whereabouts, with a South Korean news outlet reporting Kim had undergone heart surgery. Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said at a meeting with members of the parliamentary intelligence committee that the reports were “groundless”, Yonhap said. “He was normally performing his duties when he was out of the public eye,” committee member Kim Byung-kee was quoted as saying. But the lawmaker said Kim Jong-un only made 17 public appearances so far this year, compared with an average of 50 from previous years, which the NIS ascribed to a possible coronavirus outbreak in North Korea.
