A small plane, similar to the one used by North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un, reportedly crashed last week near the port city of Wonsan, which is also home to the dictator's villa, South Korean media have reported.
A Cessna plane crashed in North Korea on 15 July, a South Korean official told Yonhap news agency, adding that the news was confirmed by South Korean and US 'intelligence assets'.
However, Kim Jong-un was 'apparently' not on board the crashed plane, and he was reportedly seen on state television attending an ambassadors' meeting in Pyongyang on the same day.
Since then, the North Korean leader has also been seen on state media voting in the local assembly elections on 19 July.
There were no reports of the plane crash in North Korean media.
South Korea's spy agency National Intelligence Service has not confirmed the crash, Yonhap reported.
A South Korean intelligence official , however, told the news agency that Kim Jong-un indeed uses a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, a single-engine aircraft that is built by the eponymous US aviation company.
Earlier this year, a footage of Kim Jong-un 'flying' a plane had gone viral globally, and the leader had earlier told the North Korean media that the plane had been built 'with their own hand and own technology'.
"Our factory workers managed to build the aeroplane with their own hand and own technology... shows that party's will always turn out as the practice – I must drive the plane built by our working class people," Kim had reportedly said.
The South Korean official told Yonhap that North Korea usually builds Cessna planes by importing components from another country. He did not name the country.
