Kim Jong Un Reportedly Resurfaces and Is Seen in State Media Photographs for First Time in 3 Weeks

After weeks of rumors that North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un was in poor health, the country's state media is reporting that he was seen in public Friday.

Kim purportedly appeared at a fertilizer plant in Sunchon and was photographed cutting a red ribbon, according to state media. He was reportedly last seen on state media on April 11.

Last week, reports surfaced that Kim was in ill health after undergoing heart surgery, though details conflicted and the reports could not be independently confirmed.

CNN cited a U.S. official last week who said there was intelligence suggesting Kim was, according to the network, “in grave danger.”

However, an anonymous U.S. government source told Reuters that information regarding Kim's health was "unlikely to leak to the media," and a top aide to South Korean President Moon Jae-in told CNN a few days later that Kim was "alive and well" and "has been staying in the Wonsan area [in eastern North Korea] since April 13."

“We’re monitoring these reports very closely,” U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said on Fox News last week after the reports surfaced. “They’re parsimonious with the information they provide about many things, including the health of Kim Jong Un."

"It’s just hard to know,” O'Brien added. “We’re keeping a close eye on it.”

The country is infamously closed off from the rest of the world, and information about its society and government, and about Kim in particular, is difficult to verify.

On Monday, Donald Trump was asked about Kim's health, and said that he wished the dictator "well."

"On Kim Jong-un? I can’t tell you exactly. Yes, I do have a very good idea, but I can’t talk about it now," said Trump when asked at a news conference if he had been given an update on the North Korean leader. "I just wish him well."

"I hope he’s fine," Trump added. "I do know how he’s doing, relatively speaking. We will see. You’ll probably be hearing in the not too distant future."

"Nobody knows where he is," he said later in the news conference of Kim.

Photographs of Kim smiling and clapping at the ribbon ceremony were released by North Korean media on Saturday. He was accompanied by his sister, Kim Yo Jong, who has been eyed as a potential successor for Kim.