North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has not made any public appearances for the past 23 days, South Korea's Unification Ministry official said.

Kim was last seen in public on October 21 when he visited a cemetery in the South Pyongyang province for fallen Chinese soldiers that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War, Yonhap News Agency reported. "We do not attach any special meaning to it as he has gone absent from public view for more than 20 days several times based on past records," the Ministry official said on Thursday.

Kim's absence from public sight for 20 days in April sparked worldwide speculation over his health and even the possibility of his death. That speculation was soon dismissed when he reappeared at a ceremony marking the completion of a fertilizer factory in May.