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Kim Jong-un has been missing from the public eye for months, but newly released official photographs show a robust-looking Kim . . . with one very surprised-looking bloke alongside him

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Adam CaillerSenior reporter and MSN lead

09:54, 10 AUG 2026
Updated09:57, 10 AUG 2026

It was a large event with some very, very staged images

North Korean despot Kim Jong-un has finally resurfaced in public following a mysterious disappearance, but it was a deeply shocked man in a wheelchair who truly stole the show. The tyrant had been completely AWOL for two months, sparking intense speculation about his whereabouts and health.

During his extended absence, the leader failed to attend any new building openings or public events, and he even skipped the historic 73rd anniversary of the end of the Korean War.

However, newly released official photographs show a robust-looking Kim lapping up the applause of adoring crowds and officials during an with the National Symphony Orchestra, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

He is pictured receiving bouquets of flowers from women in brightly coloured traditional hanbok dress and posing for massive group photographs in a grand, marble-clad hall decorated with a violin crest. The heavily staged propaganda pictures show military men, suited officials, and weeping supporters clapping frantically for their beaming leader.

Yet, amid the sea of forced smiles and dutiful applause, one attendee appears to have completely lost the script. Positioned in the front row on the right-hand side of a smaller group photograph, an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair can be seen looking entirely stunned.

Rather than gazing in awe at the Supreme Leader like the rest of the meticulously arranged group, the bloke is looking sharply to his right with his mouth wide open in absolute shock, seemingly distracted by something bizarre off-camera.

Officially, Pyongyang-approved media doesn't mention Kim Jong-un being present at all, but states of the event: Since the declaration of its birth with the playing of "Song of General Kim Il Sung", an immortal revolutionary hymn, the orchestra has enriched the treasure house of Juche-oriented music and art by representing with monumental orchestral music, symphonic suites and symphonic serial songs the ideological will of all the people and the strong pulse of the times. Its excellent history and tradition and successes of artistic creation are a precious treasure of our state and a source of great pride for our Party and people.

Kim's surprise return to the spotlight comes against a backdrop of renewed military aggression and high tensions. Just recently, North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile directly into the sea. This aggressive manoeuvre officially restarted the rogue state's weapons testing just days before the US and South Korea were scheduled to kick off their annual joint military exercises.

The last official images of him in public were taken in March alongside the leader of Belarus. For now, Pyongyang's propaganda machine is running at full speed to prove their leader is back in business and firmly in charge.

However, state censors might want to pay much closer attention to the blokes in the background before releasing their next batch of carefully curated, picture-perfect photos to the world.

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During his extended absence, the leader failed to attend any new building openings or public events, and he even skipped the historic 73rd anniversary of the end of the Korean War.

2 of 10