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US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was “glad” about the reappearance of Kim Jong Un and that the North Korea leader is apparently healthy.

“I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” Trump tweeted, following Kim’s first public appearance in nearly three weeks after intense speculation that he was seriously ill or possibly dead.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un is not believed to have received surgery, a senior South Korean official said yesterday, a day after Kim’s reappearance following a near three-week absence that triggered intense speculation about his health.

“Chairman Kim is not believed to have received surgery,” an unnamed senior official at the South’s presidential office said, according to Yonhap news agency.

“There were media reports speculating about Kim’s surgery, citing a change in the way he walks,” the official added, saying Seoul had enough grounds to draw the conclusion.

Rumours about Kim’s health have been swirling since his conspicuous no-show at 15 April celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North’s founder – the most important day in the country’s political calendar.

His absence triggered a series of fevered rumours and unconfirmed reports over his condition, while the United States and South Korea insisted they had no information to believe any of the conjecture was true.

North Korean state television showed Kim walking, smiling broadly and smoking a cigarette at what it said was the opening of a fertiliser factory on Friday.-AFP.