Background info
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200502/kt2005020318522644430.htm
Yon Hyong-muk, 74, vice chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission, appeared in public Feb. 2 for the first time since receiving medical treatment in Russia late last year.
North Korea's Central Television broadcast Yon sitting with other national leaders in the front row of a rally at the April 25 Culture Center in Pyongyang.
It was the first time Yon had appeared in public since Oct. 26, when he attended a meeting of teachers from across North Korea. Yon is a close confidant to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
According to informed sources, Yon returned home via China in December after surgery for pancreatic cancer in Russia. They said Yon was now in good health condition as the cancer was discovered at an early stage and the operation was successful.
Yon, a former technocrat-turned-leader, served as prime minister in 1990, when he made an unprecedented three-day visit to South Korea for the highest level official contact between the two countries since 1948.
Also on hand during the event was Jo Myon-rok, the No. 3 man in North Korea's power hierarchy, who received surgery in China last November.
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