A man who appears to be a disgraced former North Korean top military officer attended a party ceremony to commemorate the birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il, footage from North Korea's state broadcaster indicated Thursday.

The official, who appears to be Hwang Pyong-so, former director of the military's powerful General Political Bureau, was seen standing and clapping along with key officials at the ceremony in Pyongyang, a possible sign that he has made a political comeback.

Hwang has not appeared in public since last October. Seoul officials said he was dismissed and sent to a retraining program amid a three-month sweeping inspection started that month.

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