North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is ill, the country’s state media confirmed on Friday, a day after the young dictator was absent from a key parliamentary meeting.
The announcement is the first time the Stalinist regime has admitted that Kim is not well.
China’s Xinhua news agency cited reports by North Korean media that Kim was still “enthusiastically” leading the country, despite being ill.
The dictator, who is said to be 31, was last seen in public on September 3 at a concert, where video footage captured him walking with a limp.
Thursday’s meeting was the first of its kind that Kim had failed to attend since he came to power three years ago.
Kim is overweight, and South Korean and Chinese media had been speculating as to whether he may have disappeared from the public eye due to health problems.
GNA
