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It’s all in the wrist — at least when it comes to figuring out what happened to the suddenly undead Kim Jong Un of North Korea.
State media released footage Saturday of the portly 38-year-old dictator riding an electric cart around the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer factory with a new, mysterious mark on his wrist, NK News reported.
Information about the video and the mark on Kim’s wrist was very limited. A US medical professional told NK News that the small mark might signal a recent cardiovascular procedure, possibly a right, radial artery puncture.
Newly published photos and video showed a smiling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un strolling around a factory Friday, ending a nearly three-week absence from public view that fueled rumors of his death.
Mr. Kim, all in black and wearing no face mask, was shown cutting a red ribbon at a fertilizer plant in Sunchon, about 30 miles north of Pyongyang. He was flanked by aides, including his sister, Kim Yo Jong. In another image the 36-year-old Mr. Kim sat on a podium in front of a large sign displaying the factory’s name and the date May 1, 2020.
Close Pyongyang watchers said the photos appeared authentic, and that they hoped to see video for further confirmation of Mr. Kim’s health. That came later Saturday, when the official Korean Central Television network showed footage of the visit, featuring Mr. Kim walking without major impairment—as well as a shot of him seated, a cigarette in hand.
See also: Kim Jong Un, Smoking and Strolling, Reappears After Three-Week Absence
Speculation has swirled about Kim’s health since he missed the April 15 birthday celebration for Kim Il Sung, his grandfather and the founder of North Korea.
The Daily NK, a Seoul-based publication that bases most of its reports on testimony from North Korean defectors and other sources inside the country, reported last week that Kim might have been recovering from surgery at a coastal resort. It reported Friday that something may have gone wrong for him healthwise “due to either excessive drinking or overwork.”
