North Korean officers want to discover new medicine to deal with Kim Jong Un‘s obesity-related well being points, South Korea’s spy company mentioned.
The Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS) advised lawmakers on Monday that Kim — who stands at round 5 foot 7 inches and is estimated to weigh 308 kilos — is at excessive danger for coronary heart illness, one of many lawmakers, Lee Seong Kweun, advised AP Information.
Lee mentioned lawmakers had been knowledgeable that the 40-year-old chief had proven signs of hypertension and diabetes for the very best a part of a decade.
A number of shops reported that Kim misplaced a considerable quantity of weight in 2021, however he has since appeared to regain it.
Now, officers are looking abroad for drugs that would deal with Kim’s hypertension and diabetes, in accordance with the NIS, cited by Lee and Park Sunwon, one other lawmaker.
These lawmakers mentioned the company believes Kim’s poor well being is tied to emphasize in addition to his smoking and consuming habits, the outlet wrote.
There’s additionally a household historical past of well being points. Kim’s father and grandfather, who dominated the nation earlier than he got here to energy in 2011, died of respective coronary heart issues.
Enterprise Insider couldn’t independently confirm AP’s report. The NIS has traditionally been inconsistent in confirming developments in secretive North Korea, the AP mentioned.
There was widespread hypothesis over Kim’s well being in recent times, with some citing the chief’s obvious smoking and consuming habits as a danger to the nation’s future.
Sue Mi Terry, a North Korea professional on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research, beforehand advised BI that well being is “one of the vital necessary indicators” of regime stability, including that the North Korean chief’s well being “is the most important wild card.”
“Succession may be very unclear if one thing had been to occur to Kim Jong Un,” she mentioned.
“We all know he is unhealthy. So we have to care” about his well being, she added.
The NIS believes that Kim’s younger daughter, Ju Ae, is prone to be Kim’s inheritor obvious. Kim is believed to have two different youngsters and the function hasn’t been formally designated.
AP Information reviews that Ju Ae is round 10 or 11 years previous. She started accompanying her father to occasions in 2022 and has been dubbed Kim’s “most beloved” and “revered” youngster by state media, the outlet mentioned.
