Propaganda value seen in slim Kim
A rare mention in North Korean media of Kim Jong Un's health could be intended to play up shared sacrifice, analysts say Slovíčka
The tightly controlled North Korean state media quoted an unidentified resident of Pyongyang as saying that everyone in North Korea was heartbroken after seeing images of Kim looking "emaciated".
When Kim reappeared in state media in June after not being seen in public for almost a month, analysts noted that his watch appeared to be fastened more tightly than before around an apparently slimmer wrist, sparking speculation over the health of a leader who holds an iron grip in North Korea.
"If outside observers picked up on the change in Kim's appearance, you can bet your bottom dollar that the North Korean people noticed it, too," said Christopher Green, a Korea specialist at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
It is unclear whether Kim's weight loss is due to illness, or whether he decided that it was time to get fit, and the intention behind the state media coverage is unknown, said Jenny Town, director of the U.S. 38 North project, which monitors North Korea.
"It is a little strange that they would show him in such ill-fitting clothes, as the optics do seem to emphasise his weight loss," she said.
Kim has acknowledged a" tense" food situation that could worsen if this year's crops fail, exacerbating economic problems amid strict self-imposed border and movement restrictions that have slowed trade toa trickle.
"The most likely reason they would mention his declining weight in this way would, in my opinion, be related to ongoing COVID-19-related border measures," said Chad O'Carroll, CEO of the Korea Risk Group.
"Regardless of the motivation for Kim's rapid weight loss, it seems there is propaganda value in showing that even the leader of North Korea is enduring the same food shortages that are hitting the country at the current time." The regime may have intended from the beginning to emphasise the fact that Kim is working hard for the people at a time of widespread hardship, or its messaging may have been an unintended consequence of Kim's inevitable appearance, Green said.
"What matters is that the North Korean regime will have received word from its many, many, many informants that Kim's condition was a talking point among ordinary people," he said.
"From there it is a simple matter to respond by designing a propaganda strategy to use the existing public discussion to the regime's advantage."
The "pseudo-voxpop" - carefully staged by state media to look authentic - such as the one from the unnamed Pyongyang resident was a common North Korean media tactic, he added.
It is unusual, though not unheard of, for North Korean state media to mention a leader's health.
Text pochází z agentury Reuters
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