ABC News October 14, 2014

He's Back! See Kim Jong-un Step Out With a Cane After Weeks Missing

WATCH: Cane and Able: Kim Jong-un Reemerges With Walking Support

Kim Jong-un's back. But what's with the cane?

The mysterious, 40-day absence of North Korea's "dear leader" from public view ended on Monday when pictures emerged of him reportedly touring a residential facility in Pyongyang on an unspecified date.

EPN/Newscom
A photo released by North Korea's official news agency on Oct 14, 2014 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un using a cane during his first public appearance in weeks.
KCNA/Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gives field guidance to the newly built Wisong Scientists Residential District in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang, Oct. 14, 2014.

Though the world has wondered where he has been hiding for nearly six weeks, he looked jolly as ever in one of his standard photo ops.

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Smiles were seen all around, with the 31-year-old leader sporting a black pseudo-military-style outfit with a black cane amid speculation that he might be in failing health.

EPN/Newscom
A photo released by North Korea's official news agency on Oct 14, 2014 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un using a cane during his first public appearance in weeks.

His first day out was a busy one, as he allegedly gave "field guidance" during a tour of the Wisong Scientists Residential District in the country's capital.

Like most things to come out of North Korea, there are very few confirmable facts. The undated photos were released by the state-run media and they did not include any video, which would show how much -- or how little -- trouble the 31-year-old had while walking.

KCNA/Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears at the newly built Wisong Scientists Residential District in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang Oct. 14, 2014.
Lee Jin-man/AP Photo
A man watches a TV news program in Seoul, South Korea, Oct. 14, 2014, showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un using a cane, reportedly during his first public appearance in five weeks in Pyongyang, North Korea.

The North Korean leader, whose actions typically fill much of the country's state-run media, was conspicuously missing for 40 days after last being seen was last seen in public at a concert on Sept. 3.

No official explanation was released by the notoriously secretive regime, but some in the West speculated that Kim's health may have been to blame for his time out of the spotlight.

Yonhap News/Newscom
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, watch a performance by the Moranbong Band in Pyongyang on Sept. 3, 2014.