Kim Jong Un.Photo: KCNA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
After North Korean dictatorKim Jong Unappeared noticeably thinner earlier this month, one Pyongyang resident had this to say to state television — where nothing airs without government approval: The country’s citizens were “heartbroken,” the man said.
Experts on North Korea and its mysterious leader say that’s likely exactly what Kim was hoping for.
“North Korea could be trying to sell people on the idea that Kim Jong Un is losing weight because he is overworking himself to make people’s lives better in North Korea,” one expert, Cheong Seong-chang, told CNN.
Rachel Minyoung Lee, another expert on North Korea,told Reuters, “It is hard to say what caused Kim’s weight loss, or what his health conditions are, but right now they are using it for propaganda purposes, specifically to highlight his hard work and sacrifice to improve the people’s living standards.”
The head of One Korea Center, a website focused on North Korea affairs,told the BBCthat the country “would never allow negative news around Kim Jong-un to be published.”
“Kim Jong-un is using himself as a propaganda platform to emphasize the image of a leader working hard for his people day and night,” Kwak Gil Seob told the BBC.
Kim Jong Un.Getty Images
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates North Korea hasroughly two months worth of supplieson hand for the country.
The country imposed strict anti-virus measures, closing its borders and restricting domestic travel during the pandemic — though how it is faring is far from clear: Officials have not confirmedany cases of the virus, though that has been viewed with skepticism.
State mediareported this weekthat Kim spoke of a “great crisis” in their response.
Former President Donald Trump (left) and Kim Jong Un in 2019.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
His weight loss also comes on the heels of rumors about his health — an area of persistent fascination, given how little is known about the Kim family and how it handles transitions of power.
In April 2020, reports surfaced that the leader was inill healthafter undergoing heart surgery, though details conflicted and the reports could not be independently confirmed.
source: people.com
