North Korea held a national meeting Tuesday to mark the 17th anniversary of late leader Kim Jong-il's election as general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

The communist nation's leader, Kim Jong-un, however, was absent from the annual event to commemorate his father.

Kim has been out of public sight since Sept. 3 amid news reports that he appears to be suffering a health problem.

Attention is being paid to whether he will show up at a ceremony, slated for Oct. 10, to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the founding of the WPK.

Participants in Tuesday's event, meanwhile, included the North's ceremonial leader, Kim Yong-nam, Hwang Pyong-so, director of the Korean People's Army General Political Bureau, and Kim Ki-nam, a WPK secretary.

The secretary called for national efforts to build "the strongest country and people's paradise under the leadership of Marshal Kim Jong-un," according to Pyongyang's official news agency, KCNA.

Kim Jong-un, reportedly in his early 30s, did not attend last year's national meeting for his father either. (Yonhap)