North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has regained weight and appears to have obesity-related health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and his officials are looking for new medicines abroad to treat them, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Monday.

The 40-year-old Kim, known for heavy drinking and smoking, comes from a family with a history of heart problems. Both his father and grandfather, who ruled North Korea before his 2011 inheritance of power, died of heart issues.

Some observers said Kim, who is about 170 centimeters (5 feet, 8 inches) tall and previously weighed 140 kilograms (308 pounds), appeared to have lost a large amount of weight in 2021, likely from changing his diet. But recent state media footage show he has regained the weight.

  • Media Bias Fact Checker@lemmy.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    12
    ·
    2 months ago
    Associated Press Media Bias Fact Check Credibility: [High] (Click to view Full Report)

    Associated Press is rated with High Creditability by Media Bias Fact Check.

    Bias: Left-Center
    Factual Reporting: High
    Country: United States of America
    Full Report: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/associated-press/

    Check the bias and credibility of this article on Ground.News


    Thanks to Media Bias Fact Check for their access to the API.
    Please consider supporting them by donating.

    Footer

    Media Bias Fact Check is a fact-checking website that rates the bias and credibility of news sources. They are known for their comprehensive and detailed reports.

    Beep boop. This action was performed automatically. If you dont like me then please block me.💔
    If you have any questions or comments about me, you can make a post to LW Support lemmy community.

  • wagesj45@kbin.run
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    Just imagine being that guy’s doctor, having to give him bad news with potentially no cure. That has to be nerve wracking.

    • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      In South Korea, doctors there have a very bad habit of not telling patients that they are dying or there is no cure. At least according to my parents and a few friends who immigrated from there.

      I don’t know how it is in North Korea but I can’t it being any better.

    • ikidd@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      I think the North Korean method of losing weight is called “not be a party member and fucking starving to death”. Seems to work.

  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    35
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    Some observers said Kim, who is about 170 centimeters (5 feet, 8 inches) tall and previously weighed 140 kilograms (308 pounds), appeared to have lost a large amount of weight in 2021, likely from changing his diet. But recent state media footage show he has regained the weight.

    seeing him on tv and news article photos made me think that i was significantly fatter than kim; but it’s all in photography, apparently.

  • Allonzee@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    I’m kind of surprised by this.

    You’d think he would have been popping Ozempic like candy since it came out.

    I never thought sanctions and embargos were so all encompassing and effective to such a spectacularly granular degree that it literally effected the despotic leader’s creature comforts and not just their people.

    As an example, despite any embargo, I’d expect Putin would be able to get any expensive Kentucky Bourbon he wants flown in via secondary channels while his people suffer.