KCNA
"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives field guidance during his visit to the completed Pyongyang Baby Home and Orphanage, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on October 26, 2014. "
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - 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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Korea Central News Agency
