N Korea shows Kim with cane in first sighting in weeks

Seoul

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in six weeks, walking with a cane during a visit to a new residential block as he ended a period of seclusion that prompted speculation about his grip on power.

Mr Kim commended workers who built the Wisong Scientists Residential District and was accompanied by senior officials including Vice-Marshal Hwang Pyong So and Workers' Party secretary Choe Ryong Hae, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday. Photographs on the website of the Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper published by the ruling party, showed Mr Kim talking and laughing while holding a cane. Neither report gave the date of his visit.