It was earlier in June that Kim Jong-un’s weight loss attracted a lot of attention in the international media.
TV 2 also covered the case, and there has been speculation both as to whether North Korea’s leader has health problems, and whether he may have started on a diet for health reasons.
Gained weight
Kim Jong-un’s emphasis has been a recurring theme since he took over the leadership of the country in 2012.
By then, his predecessor, his father Kim Jong-Il, had died of what is believed to be a heart attack. Kim Jong-un is known as a chain smoker, and experts in North Korea point out that he leads an unhealthy lifestyle.
South Korean intelligence last year estimated that Kim weighed 140 kilos, writes The Guardian. They also believed that he had gained an average of six to seven kilos a year since he took power.
– Our hearts ache
North Korean state television has now commented on the case for the first time.
– Our people’s hearts ache and we are broken after seeing his emaciated condition. Everyone says their eyes are automatically filled with tears when they see him, says a local resident with a straw hat on the national TV channel.
This is the first time the weight loss is being discussed by someone from inside North Korea.
In photos from state media from the past, you can see that the leader has lost a significant number of kilos.
Interested in health
Kim Jong-un is 170 centimeters tall, and is said to have lost between 10 and 20 kilos recently.
The 37-year-old’s health is of great interest to the world outside North Korea, as no successor has yet been appointed if anything should happen to him.
According to the AP, several experts in South Korea believe that the North Korean leader has started a diet to improve his health.
Most recently in 2020, rumors abounded about Kim Jong-un’s castle, after he did not appear in public for several weeks.
The rumors started when he did not participate in the celebration of the anniversary of his grandfather Kim II Sung on April 15.
It has also been speculated that he was very ill during this period.
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