North Korean chief Kim Jong Un is affected by well being issues brought on by weight problems, together with hypertension and diabetes, South Korea’s spy company has stated.
The Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS), South Korea’s most important spy company, informed politicians in Seoul on Monday that Kim’s aides are attempting to get new medicines from overseas to assist the North’s chief.
Kim, 40, is understood to be a heavy drinker and smoker and comes from a household with a historical past of coronary heart issues.
Each his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who dominated the secretive state earlier than him, died of coronary heart points.
Kim Jong Un inspects a flood-hit space in North Phyongan province, on 28 July. Pic: Reuters
Kim, who assumed energy in 2011 following his father’s demise, is about 170cm (5 ft, 8 inches) tall and beforehand weighed 140kg (greater than 22 stone), placing him within the overweight class on the NHS Physique Mass Index (BMI) chart.
In 2021, he appeared to have misplaced a considerable quantity of weight, doubtless from altering his weight-reduction plan, however current state media footage reveals he has regained it.
The NIS stated Kim’s weight is again as much as round 140kg once more, that means he’s in a high-risk group for sure ailments, in response to Lee Seong Kweun, one of many South Korean politicians on the personal assembly.
Intelligence officers informed the assembly Kim has proven signs of hypertension and diabetes since his early 30s and that he’ll doubtless ultimately endure from coronary heart illness if he fails to enhance his well being, Mr Lee stated.
Park Sunwon, one other politician who attended the South Korean intelligence briefing, stated the NIS believes Kim’s weight problems is linked to his ingesting, smoking and stress.
Kim Jong Un marks the 71st anniversary of the victory within the Fatherland Liberation Conflict, on 26 July. Pic: Reuters
North Korea is without doubt one of the most secretive nations on the planet, and there are just about no methods for outsiders to know Kim’s precise well being situations.
Kim’s well being is the main focus of eager consideration outdoors North Korea as a result of he has not formally determined who ought to succeed him and take management of the nation’s rising nuclear arsenal.
His daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged 10, seems to be in pole place, the NIS believes.
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Kim Jong Un marks the 71st anniversary of the victory within the Fatherland Liberation Conflict, on 26 July. Pic: Reuters
However the NIS has an uneven monitor file with predicting developments within the North – and refused to rule out the chance that Kim Ju Ae may very well be changed by considered one of her siblings as a result of she hasn’t been formally designated as her father’s successor.
Since late 2022, she has joined her father on a sequence of high-profile public occasions.
State media known as her Kim Jong Un’s “most beloved” or “revered” youngster and broadcast footage and pictures to point out her rising political standing and closeness together with her father.
The NIS added not less than 60% of Kim Ju Ae’s public actions have concerned attending army occasions together with her father.
