North Korean chief Kim Jong Un has gained weight and seems to have obesity-related well being issues comparable to hypertension and diabetes, and his officers are wanting overseas for brand spanking new medicine to deal with them, South Korea’s spy company advised lawmakers on Monday.
Kim, 40, recognized for his heavy ingesting and smoking, comes from a household historical past of coronary heart issues. Each his father and grandfather, who dominated North Korea earlier than inheriting energy in 2011, died of coronary heart issues.
Some observers mentioned Kim, who’s about 170 centimeters (5 toes, 7 inches) tall and beforehand weighed 140 kilograms (308 kilos), appeared to have misplaced a major quantity of weight in 2021, probably on account of adjustments in his food regimen. However current state media footage exhibits him gaining the load again.
On Monday, the Nationwide Intelligence Service, South Korea’s fundamental spy company, advised lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that Kim is estimated to weigh about 140 kilograms (308 kilos) once more and is in a high-risk group for coronary heart illness, in keeping with Lee Seong Kweun, one of many lawmakers.
Lee mentioned the NIS knowledgeable lawmakers that Kim has proven signs of hypertension and diabetes since he was 30. One other lawmaker, Park Sunwon, mentioned the NIS believes Kim’s weight problems is expounded to his alcohol, tobacco and stress consumption.
Lee and Park cited the NIS as saying it had obtained data that North Korean officers have been making an attempt to acquire new medicine from overseas for Kim’s suspected hypertension and diabetes.
North Korea is among the most secretive international locations on this planet and there’s nearly no manner for an outsider to know Kim’s actual well being standing. The NIS additionally has a spotty document in the case of confirming developments in North Korea.
Kim’s well being is the main target of a lot consideration outdoors North Korea as he has not formally named a successor to take cost of the nation’s rising nuclear arsenal, which is geared toward the USA and its allies if he had been to develop into incapacitated.
In its report on Monday, the Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS) maintained its view that Kim’s pre-teen daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae, is bolstering her probably standing as her father’s inheritor obvious. However the NIS mentioned it can not rule out the likelihood that she may very well be changed by one in every of her brothers as a result of she has not been formally designated as her father’s successor.
Hypothesis about Kim Ju Ae, who’s about 10 or 11 years previous, erupted when she accompanied her father to high-profile public occasions starting in late 2022. State media known as her Kim Jong Un’s “most beloved” or “revered” daughter and printed pictures and images demonstrating her rising political standing and closeness to her father.
The NIS advised lawmakers that not less than 60 p.c of Kim Ju Ae’s public actions have concerned attending army occasions together with her father.
