(TargetLiberty.org) – There was new speculation about the health of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un this week, after recent photos showed that he seems to have lost a lot of weight. If this is true, is he trying to improve his image, or showing signs of illness?
🇰🇵 New images suggesting Kim Jong-un has recently shed several pounds have sparked fresh speculation about the health of the autocratic leader https://t.co/zrza9KDz0F
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 9, 2021
On June 8, South Korean media reported that photos of Kim at a politburo meeting last week suggest he’s lost “a significant amount” of weight. Last year, South Korea’s intelligence services estimated Kim weighed around 308 pounds and had been gaining up to 15 pounds a year since he came to power. Now it looks like the pounds are coming off again.
Kim’s weight – and the reason he seems to be losing it – might be an important issue. One professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vipin Narang, said that if he’s deliberately lost it to improve his health, that could raise his popularity at home. On the other hand, some commentators and analysts have suggested he could be seriously ill. His predecessors as North Korea’s dictator, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, both died of heart attacks. If Kim is at risk of going the same way, it’s possible his political rivals are already jockeying to take his place.
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