North Korean state TV Kctv aired a citizen’s comment on Kim Jong-un’s “emaciated” condition, in an unusual move that fuels doubts about the leader’s condition. The rare public comment on the supreme commander’s health came after North Korean affairs watchers noted in early June that Kim appeared to have been losing weight dramatically. “Seeing the respected secretary general Kim Jong-un emaciated breaks the hearts of our people so much,” the man said in an interview broadcast by Kctv last Friday, in the Seoul media report.
In the video, Pyongyang residents are filmed watching a large screen set up on the street in Pyongyang with images of a concert attended by Kim and top-level officials after a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party. Analysts believe Pyongyang is using Kim’s appearance to portray him as a “dedicated and hardworking” leader as the country struggles to tackle its severe food crisis and numerous other challenges. North Korea closed its borders in January 2020 to protect itself from the Covid-19 pandemic, cutting down trade with China, which remains its historic ally and partner, while all international aid workers have left the country. Speculations about Kim’s health erupted last year after the leader skipped the commemoration of the April 15 birthday of grandfather Kim Il-sung, the founder of the state, by absent from public life for about 20 days.
The father of the ‘young general’, Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung, were also obese, smokers and alcohol lovers: both died of heart attacks due to chronic illnesses and extremely disordered lives. In 2016, South Korean intelligence reported that Kim had gained weight to at least 130 kilograms, with about 40 kilos accumulated since taking power in late 2011. In 2020, however, estimates were of another 10 kilos gained. bringing the total to 140. When Kim reappeared in the state media in early June after an absence of nearly a month, analysts at NK News, a Seoul-based website that monitors events in the North, noted that her watch band appeared to be tighter around the globe on the wrist, just for weight loss.