Activists who plan to send anti-North Korea leaflets, hold a defaced image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as police officers stand guard during a rally in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. AP
SEOUL — South Korea’s spy agency says it has an explanation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s mysterious 6-week-long public absence.
An aide for a South Korean lawmaker says the National Intelligence Agency told legislators on Tuesday that a foreign doctor operated on Kim in September or October to remove a cyst from his right ankle.
The aide to opposition lawmaker Shin Kyung-min said the spy agency disclosed the information in a closed-door briefing.
Kim’s lengthy absence from public view triggered speculation about his health. He reappeared in state media earlier this month hobbling with a cane.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the spy agency obtained the information. It has a spotty track record of analyzing developments in opaque North Korea.
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