N. Korea parliament meets but Kim absent ahead of summits

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – North Korea's parliament has met to rubber-stamp Kim Jong Un's policies, but the leader himself was conspicuously absent as he prepares for two key summits with South Korea and the US.

Kim had been present at six out of eight previous Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) sessions held since he officially became party head six years ago, according to the South's Unification Ministry.

But he appeared to skip Wednesday's meeting, with the official KCNA news agency failing to mention his attendance in its report of the meeting Thursday.

Photos carried by the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed an empty seat at the centre of the head table in Pyongyang's cavernous Mansudae Assembly Hall, presumed to be Kim's.

Instead, the session focused on North Korea's budget and changes in leadership personnel.

Kim is due to meet with the South's Moon Jae-in later this month, and is expected to meet US President Donald Trump weeks later.

On Monday he briefed party members on talks with the South and the ''prospect'' of dialogue with the US, in an unusually well-publicized politburo meeting.

But the detailed state media reports of Monday's politburo meeting mean North Koreans ''will assume their leader is trying to improve external relations'', he added.