The massive weight loss of the North Korean supreme leader has nothing to do with deterioration of his health but with the measures taken at his doctors’ strong recommendations to prevent critical cases. Obviously, in August 2020 his health status was evaluated critically enough to start taking care of his weight immediately. According to our estimates, the DPRK leader has been taken good of his health over the past year. Overall, Kim has made a public appearance in North Korean state media for 70 days in 2021. In contrast, in 2020 he appeared 49 times.
Thus, despite weight loss preventing Kim Jong-un from health deterioration, the habit to smoke and unclear chronic disease dynamics do not rule out bad scenarios for his health.
Kim Jong-un has been known as a heavy drinker and smoker; he comes from a family with a heart problems background. His father and grandfather, former leaders of North Korea, both died from heart problems.
Moreover, the necessity to put the North Korean leader in better physical shape can be connected with tension decrease in the state elites, who having any doubts about their leader’s health, could become less loyal and start looking for a successor. Kim Jong-un is trying to strengthen the image of an active and healthy state leader and thereby avoid doubts about his leadership skills.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has seemed to have lost 44 pounds (20 kgs).
We fully share South Korean intelligence conclusions that the conspiracy theories suggesting North Korea may have been exposing a Kim Jong-un look-alike are not credible.
However, the disappearance of the official portraits of his father and grandfather, former leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, from the main walls of official meetings is indicative of political developments in PDRK. Instead, there are signs that the communist regime religiously hung the two portraits in all public areas and individual homes. According to Roy Calley, a journalist and frequent traveler to North Korea, a statue of Kim Jong Il has been also dismantled.
We estimate Kim Jong-un’s personality cult will grow in the country; this very growth will involve his image change. Probably, the ideological value orientations can be adjusted towards increasing the role of the current leader due to the figures of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
