Kim Jong-un: North Korea leader 'appears in public'

(BBC) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made his first public appearance since 3 September, the country's official news agency says.

The KCNA agency said on Tuesday that Mr Kim "gave field guidance" at a newly built scientists' residential district.

Rodong Sinmun daily newspaper carried several photographs of Mr Kim using a walking stick as he inspected the site.

The absence of the 32-year-old leader has prompted a flurry of speculation about his health.

Some have even questioned if he remains in control of the secretive communist state.

Official media have cited unspecified personal "discomfort" as grounds for Mr Kim's absence from public view.

On Sunday, North Korea's ambassador to London told the BBC that Mr Kim was in good health.

The desire of state-run media to end speculation about Mr Kim also indicates he hasn't been the victim of a coup, says the BBC's Steve Evans in the South Korean capital Seoul.

KCNA said that Mr Kim was briefed on the Wisong Scientists Residential District "before a map showing its bird's-eye view" and that he then "overlooked it".

"Looking over the exterior of the apartment houses and public buildings, decorated with diverse coloured tiles, (Mr Kim) expressed great satisfaction, saying they looked very beautiful," the agency said.

It also said that Mr Kim visited the newly built Natural Energy Institute of the State Academy of Sciences.

Although the news release was dated Tuesday, it did not specify on which day he made the visits.

Bakudaily.Az