North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has reportedly attended a soccer match and photographs showing him smiling and looking healthy have been released as proof.
The 66-year-old is thought to have suffered a stroke in August,
He was seen wearing sunglasses and sitting in what appears to be a special viewing box in one of the photographs provided by South Korea's unification ministry.
The ministry declined to comment on the pictures.
In the undated pictures, one of which shows him standing and talking, Mr Kim wears winter clothes and has a full head of hair, even though intelligence sources said he may have had brain surgery in August.
Last month, North Korea's official media reported that Mr Kim had made public appearances, but experts said photos released then may have been shot months earlier, fuelling more speculation about his health.
A debilitated Mr Kim, who was conspicuously absent from ceremonies in September to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his state's founding, raises questions about leadership in Asia's only communist dynasty and who was making decisions concerning its nuclear arsenal, analysts have said.
Last week he also failed to attend the funeral of one of the most senior members of the communist state, the South said, again raising questions if he is fit enough to appear in public.
Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said intelligence indicated that Mr Kim was probably in hospital but still in control of the state. The South's spy chief said Mr Kim was on the mend and still calling the shots.
