The weight loss has reportedly sparked unrest and concern in North Korea.
This week, state-run media in North Korea did something as unusual as showing a television interview of a citizen who expressed concern about Kim Jong-un’s weight loss.
The health condition of regime leader Kim Jong-un is a topic that is never covered in the strictly controlled media in the hermetically sealed country. Now, however, several photographs and TV pictures of an apparently slimmer Kim have escaped the strict media censorship in the country.
Various analysts outside North Korea have gone to great lengths to compare old and new photos of Kim, and pointed out that the strap on the luxury watch around the wrist is much tighter than before, which indicates a strong weight loss.
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– Unrest and worry
The photos showing Kim’s weight loss are said to have caused unrest and concern in the North Korean population. It all culminated in a TV interview that was broadcast on the state-controlled TV channel in North Korea this week.
– Seeing him lose weight in this way has made us all sad. Everyone just started crying, says an unnamed North Korean in the interview.
Here in the West, no one knows for sure why North Korea chooses to broadcast a TV clip of a North Korean who is apparently worried about the leader’s weight loss.
Geir Helgesen is head of the Nordic Institute for Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. He has observed North Korea for over 35 years and has visited the country a number of times.
He says it is impossible to know for sure what is the reason why the North Korean regime is facing Kim’s weight loss in this way.
– It’s like predicting in coffee grounds, says Helgesen to Nettavisen.
Sick or voluntary weight loss
Helgesen speculates that the mention of weight loss may be due to one of two things.
– If the North Korean media describes changes in the leader, it may be a sign that he is ill. But it can also be a sign of voluntary weight loss. Either the doctor has said that he should take a diet because he has become too big and unhealthy. Otherwise, Kim Jong-un has thought that he himself must take into account that he can not walk around and strut with his stomach in a country that fails to ensure that the population has enough food to eat, says Helgesen.
North Korea suffers from chronic food shortages and the country is struggling to supply its own population. International sanctions related to the country’s nuclear weapons program, the corona pandemic, poor harvests after last year’s floods and storms, have put further pressure on the already hard-hit economy.
Recently, Kim took the unusual step of acknowledging that the country’s food situation was “strained”.
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– Do not want a small, thin boy
– But why are they showing a TV clip of a North Korean who is apparently worried about Kim’s weight loss?
– There is no one in this region who wants a leader who is a small, thin and small boy who exercises fitness and looks after the waist. They want a strong male person who takes care of them, says Helgesen.
– Leadership in East Asia is not about ordinary people like you and me. It’s about people who are more important and better than everyone else. Therefore, all countries in this region have problems describing their own leader, whether it is a popularly elected president or not.
– They have a challenge in describing illness and the like. This type of superhuman is rarely sick, because then they are no longer superhuman, says Helgesen.
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Kwak Gil Seob is the leader of the One Korea Center, which closely monitors North Korean conditions. He emphasizes that the regime would never allow negative news about Kim Jong-un, and that the purpose behind the whimsical interview is to show the people that Kim himself has chosen to lose weight.
“Kim Jong-un uses himself as a propaganda platform to strengthen the image of a leader who works hard for his people both day and night,” Kwak Gil Seob told BBC.
Speculation about death and illness
In the last decade, there have been many rumors and speculations about Kim’s health. Analysts have previously speculated that Kim may be suffering from diabetes and gout. Kim, who is believed to be 37 years old, is known to be a heavy smoker. Rumor has it that he is a heavy consumer of alcohol.
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Last winter, just after the corona pandemic broke out, there were rumors that Kim Jong-un was dead or life-threateningly ill. A few weeks later, new photos were published of Kim showing signs of bruising on his wrist. This in turn triggered new rumors that the dictator had undergone an operation.
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In 2014, Kim was away from the public for 40 days, which also led to rumors of serious illness or death. When he reappeared in public, he was depicted walking with a cane. This led to speculation that he had undergone ankle surgery.
Facts about Kim Jong-un
* North Korea’s top leader since 2011.
* Born January 8, 1983 in Pyongyang.
* Third and youngest son of North Korea’s former leader Kim Jong-il, and grandson of the state’s founder Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994.
* Went to school in Switzerland for a few years under a false identity. Speaks both English and German.
* Was first officially mentioned in North Korea when in 2010 he was given several important political and military positions.
* After his father’s death in December 2011, he was appointed the country’s supreme leader, as leader of the ruling Communist Party, the Korean Labor Party, and head of the National Defense Commission.
* In July 2012, it was officially confirmed that he has a wife, Ri Sol-ju. This is seen as a breach of the strict secrecy the father’s private life was always shrouded in. The two are to have a daughter.
* Kim has been behind purges in the North Korean regime, including by Uncle Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in December 2013. He is also suspected of ordering the murder of his half-brother Kim Jong-nam, who was poisoned at the airport in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia February 13, 2017.
Source: NTB
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The Kim family has ruled for three generations
Kim Jong-un has been North Korea’s leader for ten years. Kim took over the leadership after his father’s death in 2011. He has gradually gained weight over the years. Kim has no natural successor in the Kim dynasty, with the possible exception of sister Kim Yo-jong, and a possible death would trigger a power vacuum in the nuclear power.
If Kim were to die, and sister Kim Yo-jong is considered an unsuitable heir, it will be the first time in the country’s history that power falls to hands outside the Kim family, who have ruled the regime with an iron fist for three generations.
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