Kim Jong Un's wife is seen in public for the first time since September as they attend annual North Korean celebrations - and the dictator seems to have lost his limp

 Kim Jong Un's wife made her first public appearance in nearly five months yesterday as the pair attended a Lunar New Year's Day concert in Pyongyang.

Ri Sol Ju made a rare appearance to join her husband for an art performance at the Mansudae Art Theatre in the North Korean capital for the annual celebrations.  The North Korean dictator's wife was last seen publicly on September 9 when she joined her husband to visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the bodies of Kim's late grandfather and father, on the anniversary of the country's founding.     

Footage showed the pair were met with cheers and a round of applause as they entered the theatre and posed for a photo with performers.

It comes after Pyongyang released a new propaganda film showing Kim, 38, looking unsteady on his feet during a visit to a construction site in Pyongyang in August 2021. 

However, there was no sign of a limp as the dictator entered the auditorium to rapturous applause and cheering yesterday.

Kim Jong Un's wife Ri Sol Ju made her first public appearance in nearly five months as the pair attended a concert at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang

The pair were met with applause as they posed for a picture with performers at the Mansudae Art Theatre in the North Korean capital

The concert came after Pyongyang released a new propaganda film (above) showing Kim, 38, looking unsteady on his feet during a visit to a construction site in Pyongyang in August 2021 

The newly released concert video also confirmed the first appearance since January 2020 of Kim's aunt and a former senior official of the ruling Workers' Party, Kim Kyong Hui, who was seen sitting next to Ri during the concert.   

Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said: 'When Kim appeared at the auditorium of the theatre with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, amid the playing of the welcome music, the audience raised stormy cheers of ''Hurrah!'''  

The news agency also said the audience appreciated that the country's leader was 'ushering in on this land a new world and a new era when the people's ideals and happiness and desire for building a powerful country are comprehensively translated into reality'.

During the concert, artists performed songs and dances that demonstrated the 'single-minded unity' of North Korean people and their devotion to build a socialist country 'to be envied by the world', a report by KCNA said.    

Ri had once garnered international attention as she often accompanied Kim on social, business and even military outings, in a stark break from his father, Kim Jong Il, who was rarely seen in public with any of his wives.

She was absent from state media for more than a year before being seen attending a concert last February, fuelling speculation over her health and potential pregnancy.

The South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers that she apparently refrained from outside activities to prevent Covid infections but was 'playing well with their kids.' 

The couple are believed to have three children together, according to NIS.

North Korea's official media has been highlighting Kim's authoritarian leadership following a spree of missile tests in January, which some experts see as an attempt to pressure Washington over deadlocked nuclear negotiations after two years of pandemic border closures and economic decay. 

The Biden administration has called for the UN Security Council to meet on Thursday to discuss North Korea's most recent test of an intermediate-range missile potentially capable of reaching Guam, a key US military hub in the Pacific. 

Sunday's test signalled a resumption of major weapons testing that Mr Kim had suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with then-US president Donald Trump. 

The North Korean leader and his wife were met with cheers and a round of applause as they entered the theatre

Ri Sol Ju was last seen publicly on September 9 when she joined her husband to visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the anniversary of the country's founding

The pair were greeted with music and 'stormy cheers' from the audience as they joined the annual celebrations

Talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea's demands for a major release of crippling US-led sanctions in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.

The North's accelerated weapons tests, which came amid efforts to strengthen internal unity and tighten the government's grip over the economy, possibly reflect a sense of urgency within Pyongyang's leadership for outside relief, analysts say.

While tentatively reopening freight train traffic with China last month, Mr Kim is also reviving his brinkmanship tactics to wrest concessions from the Biden administration, which has offered open-ended talks but shown no willingness to ease sanctions unless Mr Kim takes real steps to abandon his nuclear weapons programme.

Sunday's flight test of the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile marked the longest-distance weapon the North has tested since 2017, when it twice flew Hwasong-12s over Japan and, separately, three intercontinental ballistic missiles that demonstrated the potential to reach deep into the American homeland.

The launch came days after Mr Kim called a ruling party meeting where officials issued a veiled threat to end the North's 2018 moratorium on the testing of nuclear devices and longer-range missiles, citing US hostility.

North Korea's official media has been highlighting Kim's authoritarian leadership following a spree of missile tests in January. Pictured: Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju during the concert

US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with Japanese foreign minister Hayashi Yoshimasa by phone and condemned North Korea's recent ballistic tests, which were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and vowed trilateral cooperation with South Korea to deal with the North Korean threat, a spokesman said.

Experts say the North could halt its testing spree after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics this week out of respect for China, its major ally and economic lifeline.

But there are also expectations it could significantly up the ante in weapons demonstrations once the Olympics end later this month to grab the attention of the Biden administration, which has been focusing more on confronting China and Russia over its conflict with Ukraine.