Kim’s sticking plaster raises further questions over supreme leader’s health
KIM JONG-UN has appeared in public with a large plaster on the back of his head, prompting fresh speculation over the health of the North Korean dictator.
The bandage was visible in state media images at a Korean People’s Army event in late July, according to the NK News site.
There were also images from events held between July 24 and 27 in which the plaster was gone and a dark greenish spot was visible at the base of his shaven head.
While the leader’s health is one of the mostly closely guarded secrets in North Korea, it has allowed rare glimpses into the 37-year-old’s condition as he tries to revive the economy and battles food shortages.
For decades state propaganda has portrayed the supreme leaders as being so people-focused that they place their own well-being at risk.
Overweight and a smoker, Mr Kim has lost weight in recent months and in June state media reported that North Korean citizens broke down in tears when they saw their dramatically slimmer leader in public for the first time in weeks.
By releasing the images to the outside world, North Korea provided fodder for spy agencies looking for clues on Mr Kim’s health. However, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes there is no reason to be concerned about as the plaster was removed after a few days and there was no scar, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday.
It comes as North Korea swelters in a heatwave and a severe drought, which has hit crop harvests.
The coronavirus pandemic has also battered the country’s economy and further cut off the isolated nation from the outside world.
The NIS told a closed-door parliamentary committee hearing that Pyongyang is supplying rice reserved for wartime to citizens with little food, other labourers and rural state agencies. The intelligence agency also reported that the drought had killed livestock and that North Korea’s leadership viewed fighting the drought as “a matter of national existence”.