(Photo: KCNA/via REUTERS/Third party image/REUTERS unable to independently verify image/No third party sales/South Korea out)
The speculation surrounding the whereabouts of Kim Jong Un of North Korea takes a new twist after the leader was reportedly seen in public -- smiling and mingling with his constituents -- almost three weeks since he reportedly died.
Images appeared Friday in a government-owned North Korean paper showing Kim cutting a red ribbon of a fertilizer plant during its grand launch in Suncheon. He appeared to have his sister accompany him.
Yonhap news agency in South Korea also stated Kim being at the grand opening. NBC News has yet to confirm Kim's presence in the ceremony.
What looked like thousands of participants observing the gathering, most wearing face masks, released balloons and broke into loud cheers of "hurrah!" to the supreme commander, reports said.
The pictures showed Kim talking and smiling to the aides and touring the facility. The legitimacy of the images, released on official Rodong Sinmun newspaper's website, could not be confirmed immediately.
State media published the images that showed Kim donning a black Mao suit and cutting a ribbon outside the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory, which non-proliferation analysts disclose could be used to develop fissile material for nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump refused to issue any comments on the North Korean leader's reemergence, except to tell members of the press that he "might" speak to him before heading off to Camp David for the weekend.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in's office - which had helped mediate Trump's first meeting with Kim nearly two years ago - said the appearance reinforced his claims that the North Korean leader was still in command as usual.
State media also showed the 38-year-old dictator riding an electric cart around the fertilizer plant with a new, mysterious mark on his wrist, NK News divulged.
Details on the video and Kim's wrist mark has been very minimal. A medical professional from the US told NK News that the small mark may signify a recent cardiovascular operation, probably a puncture of the right radial artery.
Earlier, Yonhap claimed that a North Korean defector was "99 percent sure" that Kim died last weekend and that an announcement could be made in the next few days.
The government of South Korea cast doubt on reports last week that Kim was seriously sick after a heart procedure. Rumors about his health escalated after he did not attend the April 15 celebrations of his late grandfather's birthday, the most important date in North Korea's calendar, known as "Day of the Sun."
