I don’t think it was staged.
He has been seen travelling alone many times before to/from Macau. He just want to meet minimum obligation then go back to gambling in Macau.
His responses were non-committal.
What intrigues me is that he could make himself invisible if he chooses to. Further even if he runs into some strangers who recognize him, he can simply say, "No comment." Once in a while, he travels alone in public and runs into somebody, foreign reporters or tourists, and make some comments which can definitely draw attention of those in Pyongyang. He knows foreign journalists, curious on-lookers, and even foreign agents are snooping around him, let alone his half-brother's goons.
I begin to wonder if he shows up alone, fully expecting that somebody will notice him and strike a conversation with him.