Kim 'appears in public at New Year celebration'

North Koreans welcomed leader Kim Jong Il at a concert to usher in the Lunar New Year days after he hosted a foreign dignitary despite rumours about his health.

Mr Kim, who South Korean and US officials say suffered a stroke in August, met with Chinese envoy Wang Jiarui last week in what is believed to be the leader’s first face-to-face contact with a foreign official since he disappeared from public view last year.