BEIJING – With that unique haircut, and familiar wide smile, North Korea's young dictator resurfaced Tuesday in the traditional style of his tightly controlled nation: state media reports that showed Kim Jong Un offering "field guidance," surrounded by his usual entourage of generals and officials.

The only clue to Kim's almost 40-day absence from public view was the walking cane he leaned on, according to photographs Tuesday in Rodong Sinmun, the daily newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party. A report in the Korean Central News Agency gave no date for Kim's field trip, nor any explanation of why he had made no public outing since Sept. 3, when he attended a concert with his wife.

Kim's absence sparked rumors of a serious illness or possibly a coup. He missed Friday's celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party, and was a no-show at last month's Foundation Day commemoration, further fueling speculation.

The increasingly portly Kim has disappeared before, as did his grandfather and father who started and continued the family dynasty, but this absence still sparked speculation about who actually controls North Korea. The nuclear ambitions of Kim's highly militarized regime have long worried the region and the USA.

Analysts in South Korea said Tuesday that Kim remained in full control of the nation. His use of a cane appeared to confirm rumors of ankle surgery, but they warned that Kim's growing weight and related health issues make future disappearances likely and may affect his ability to govern.

Leaning on a cane as he walked, Kim "gave field guidance" at the newly built Wisong Scientists Residential District, reported KCNA, and also visited the newly built Natural Energy Institute of the State Academy of Sciences. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the trip was probably made Monday.

"Regardless of what injury he had, there is no indication whatsoever of his losing power, or that he has been challenged by anybody in power," said Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute near Seoul. "The 'Supreme Leader' system just functions without any serious problem. There is normalcy over there," he said.

The high-level delegation Kim dispatched to the recent closing ceremony of the Asian Games in South Korea offered a key sign of business as usual up North, and no serious worries about his health, said Paik. His injury may have stymied Kim's hopes to make his own dramatic first visit South, to celebrate the North's sporting success, he said.

Among the high-ranking officials and generals pictured accompanying Kim's return to public life Tuesday was Hwang Pyong So, who also went to South Korea. "In practical power, Hwang is no. 2," Paik said.

"Even if Kim Jong Un has some personal problem, one small group carries on taking charge of North Korea," including Hwang, said Hyeong Jung Park, a North Korean expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

Kim took over in December 2011 upon the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, and two years later executed his uncle and others over an alleged coup plot.

Kim, believed to be 30 or 31, was seen limping in television footage from late summer. There was speculation his 27-year-old sister may have run the show.

His sister, Kim Yo Jong, has an important party role but "does not have the authority to rule the country on his behalf," Park said. Future disappearances are highly likely, he said.

"Kim is young and must be energetic and do many things, but he is very fat, and must have many small and bad health issues," Park said. "His efficiency as a leader will not be the level he would wish."

In North Korea's closed society, where the Kim family's personality cult dominates daily life, its three generations of leaders are routinely presented as invincible and semi-divine. The photos of Kim's walking stick follow television footage of him walking with a limp, and a documentary voice-over last month that revealed he suffered "discomfort," yet continued his rigorous schedule of field guidance.

Such rare admission of physical weakness suggests authorities wished both to end speculation about his health, and also humanize their leader, in the eyes of North Koreans, as someone who suffers on their behalf.

"Kim Jong Un finally reappeared, and he became a man with a stick," wrote Ding Jinlong, a writer and poet in China, North Korea's neighbor and main ally. "It shows the Kim family dynasty gave up deification, in the past they couldn't get sick, they are all invincible gods, now they become people who are born, get old, sick and die," wrote Ding on the Sina Weibo micro-blog Tuesday. Chinese censors do not permit similar speculation about the People's Republic of China's own leaders.

Contributing: Michael Winter and Sunny Yang, USA Today

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