South Korean officials have played down rumours North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be ill.
It comes after reports he may have undergone heart surgery.
"Kim Jong-un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected," Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said.
At a closed door forum on Sunday, South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees engagement with North Korea, said Seoul was confident there was nothing unusual happening regarding Mr Kim.
Speculation about the North Korean leader's health began after he was not seen publicly during an important state holiday on April 15, or in the weeks since then.
Last week, South Korean media reported Mr Kim may have undergone cardiovascular surgery or was in isolation to avoid exposure to coronavirus.
There were no new images of Mr Kim on North Korean state media on Monday, nor did outlets report on his whereabouts.
However, the country's media carried reports that Mr Kim sent a message of gratitude to workers building a tourist resort in Wonsan, an area where some South Korean media reports said Mr Kim may be staying.
Satellite images of Wonsan from last week showed a special train possibly belonging to Mr Kim, lending weight to those reports, according to 38 North, a North Korea monitoring project in Washington, DC.
Though the group said the train probably belonged to the North Korean leader, there was no independent confirmation whether he was in Wonsan.
“The train’s presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast,” the 38 North report said.
Last week, China dispatched a team to North Korea, including medical experts, but it was unclear what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Mr Kim's health.
On Friday, a South Korean source told Reuters the country's intelligence suggested Mr Kim was alive and would likely make an appearance soon.
Experts said Mr Kim disappeared from state media coverage before and that gathering accurate information in North Korea was difficult.
North Korea's state media last reported on Mr Kim's whereabouts when he presided over a meeting on April 11.
Mr Kim, who is believed to be 36, vanished from state media for more than a month in 2014 and North Korean state TV later showed him walking with a limp.
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Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
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Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
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Company name: Suraasa
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
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Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
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Chinese Grand Prix schedule (in UAE time)
Friday: First practice - 6am; Second practice - 10am
Saturday: Final practice - 7am; Qualifying - 10am
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Company%20profile
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Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
