Kim Jong-un's mysterious 20 day disappearance - which prompted speculation that he'd died - was because he was scared of coronavirus, spies claim.
The dictator was widely rumoured to be dead after he missed the country's biggest annual celebration last month, and was then not seen not seen for nearly three weeks.
But North Korean media finally released pictures of him visiting a fertiliser plant on Saturday - the first time he'd been seen since April 11.
During his absence, a South Korean news outlet reporting Kim was recovering from heart surgery, while CNN said US officials were monitoring intelligence he was "in grave danger" after the procedure.
However South Korean intelligence services say Kim never underwent surgery, and was instead anxious about Covid-19.
Members of South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee said after a meeting with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) that the reports were "groundless."
"The NIS assesses that at least he did not get any heart-related procedure or surgery," committee member Kim Byung-kee told reporters.
"He was normally performing his duties when he was out of the public eye.
"At least there's no heart-related health problem."
But the lawmaker said Kim has only made 17 public appearances so far this year, compared with an average of 50 from previous years.
The NIS believe this is because of a possible coronavirus outbreak in North Korea.
"Kim Jong Un had focused on consolidating internal affairs such as military forces and party-state meetings, and coronavirus concerns have further limited his public activity," Kim Byung-kee said.
"Though North Korea maintains it has zero cases, it cannot be ruled out that there is an outbreak there given they had active people-to-people exchanges with China before closing the border in late January."
North Korea has claimed it has no confirmed cases.
South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees North Korea affairs, has said Kim's public disappearance was not unusual because the country had been taking stringent steps to head off an outbreak.
He said the North Korean leader had ordered measures to prevent the disease, stabilise prices and strengthen military discipline, as border shutdowns and market closures prompted rises in food prices and panic-buying in the capital Pyongyang.
