President Donald Trump expressed relief Saturday that Kim Jong Un was “back” after weeks of speculation that the North Korean leader might be seriously ill.
“I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” Trump tweeted along with images of Kim opening a fertilizer factory in North Korea on Friday.
Last week Trump told reporters that he didn’t believe reports about Kim being seriously ill. “I think it was a fake report," Trump said.
Kim made his first public appearance in 20 days Friday as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, reported that Kim attended the ceremony in Sunchon with other senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong, who many analysts predict would take over if her brother is suddenly unable to rule.
State media showed videos and photos of Kim wearing a black Mao suit and constantly smiling, walking around facilities, applauding, cutting a huge red ribbon with a scissor handed by his sister, and smoking inside and outside of buildings while talking with other officials.
Seemingly thousands of workers, many of them masked, stood in lines at the massive complex, roaring in celebration and releasing balloons into the air. A sign installed on a stage where Kim sat with other senior officials read: “Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory; Completion Ceremony; May 1, 2020.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.