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| A Rare Disclosure on Kim Jong-un’s Health | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, is “not feeling well,” a state-run television station reported this week, in a rare revelation about his health. | SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, is “not feeling well,” a state-run television station reported this week, in a rare revelation about his health. |
| In a documentary broadcast on Thursday, the North’s Central TV showed Mr. Kim, who has not been seen in public in recent weeks, walking with a limp while visiting a factory in Nampo, a provincial town southwest of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, last month. A narrator intoned about the tireless work of Mr. Kim, “our marshal, who lights the path of leadership for the people like a flame, although he was not feeling well.” | In a documentary broadcast on Thursday, the North’s Central TV showed Mr. Kim, who has not been seen in public in recent weeks, walking with a limp while visiting a factory in Nampo, a provincial town southwest of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, last month. A narrator intoned about the tireless work of Mr. Kim, “our marshal, who lights the path of leadership for the people like a flame, although he was not feeling well.” |
| Central TV, a key channel of government propaganda, mentioned Mr. Kim’s physical trouble in the context of what it called his selfless dedication to his people. Still, it was so rare for the news media in North Korea to discuss the condition of the supreme leader that Thursday’s report was widely picked up by the South Korean media on Friday. | Central TV, a key channel of government propaganda, mentioned Mr. Kim’s physical trouble in the context of what it called his selfless dedication to his people. Still, it was so rare for the news media in North Korea to discuss the condition of the supreme leader that Thursday’s report was widely picked up by the South Korean media on Friday. |
| North Korea’s tightly controlled media never mentioned the health conditions of Mr. Kim’s grandfather and father, who ruled before him and suffered various ailments, like diabetes. Video footage and photos never revealed a large cyst that Mr. Kim’s paternal grandfather, Kim Il-sung, developed on the back of his head in his later years. | North Korea’s tightly controlled media never mentioned the health conditions of Mr. Kim’s grandfather and father, who ruled before him and suffered various ailments, like diabetes. Video footage and photos never revealed a large cyst that Mr. Kim’s paternal grandfather, Kim Il-sung, developed on the back of his head in his later years. |
| Mr. Kim, who is widely believed to be about 30 although his government has never revealed his age, assumed the top leadership position after his father, Kim Jong-il, died of heart failure in 2011. Mr. Kim has since demonstrated a youthful leadership style by visiting farms, factories and military units more often than his father did. He appears to be bolder than his forebears in acknowledging problems. In a departure from the habitually sanitized description of state affairs, his country’s news media once quoted him as criticizing the poor upkeep of a public park and showed him pulling up weeds there. | Mr. Kim, who is widely believed to be about 30 although his government has never revealed his age, assumed the top leadership position after his father, Kim Jong-il, died of heart failure in 2011. Mr. Kim has since demonstrated a youthful leadership style by visiting farms, factories and military units more often than his father did. He appears to be bolder than his forebears in acknowledging problems. In a departure from the habitually sanitized description of state affairs, his country’s news media once quoted him as criticizing the poor upkeep of a public park and showed him pulling up weeds there. |
| But his health became a topic of speculation among outside analysts in July, after he was seen limping with his right leg in North Korean television footage. He was again shown walking with a limp this month, this time with his left leg. The images prompted South Korean analysts to speculate that he was suffering from gout or arthritis, in addition to his obesity. | But his health became a topic of speculation among outside analysts in July, after he was seen limping with his right leg in North Korean television footage. He was again shown walking with a limp this month, this time with his left leg. The images prompted South Korean analysts to speculate that he was suffering from gout or arthritis, in addition to his obesity. |
| Mr. Kim was already chubby when he took over after his father’s death. But according to video footage and photographs in the North Korean media, he appears to have gained weight since then. | Mr. Kim was already chubby when he took over after his father’s death. But according to video footage and photographs in the North Korean media, he appears to have gained weight since then. |
| The documentary was shown before a prerecorded broadcast of a session of the legislative Supreme People’s Assembly, which had met earlier on Thursday. Mr. Kim did not attend the meeting, where some of his top aides were appointed to seats on his powerful National Defense Commission. It was the first time that Mr. Kim, a member of the assembly, had missed a parliamentary meeting since taking power. | The documentary was shown before a prerecorded broadcast of a session of the legislative Supreme People’s Assembly, which had met earlier on Thursday. Mr. Kim did not attend the meeting, where some of his top aides were appointed to seats on his powerful National Defense Commission. It was the first time that Mr. Kim, a member of the assembly, had missed a parliamentary meeting since taking power. |
| The broadcast of the documentary — with its propagandistic spin on Mr. Kim’s health — may have been timed to counter growing speculation at home and abroad about his health, according to the South Korean news media. | The broadcast of the documentary — with its propagandistic spin on Mr. Kim’s health — may have been timed to counter growing speculation at home and abroad about his health, according to the South Korean news media. |
| North Korean TV and newspapers have not reported his public activities since Sept. 3, when Mr. Kim was said to have watched a musical performance. | North Korean TV and newspapers have not reported his public activities since Sept. 3, when Mr. Kim was said to have watched a musical performance. |
| It is not unusual for senior North Korean leaders to disappear from public view for weeks at a stretch. Still, the inner workings of the top leadership in Pyongyang have been cloaked in such secrecy that the outside world was in the dark about the death of Mr. Kim’s father in 2011 until the North Korean media announced it two days later. | It is not unusual for senior North Korean leaders to disappear from public view for weeks at a stretch. Still, the inner workings of the top leadership in Pyongyang have been cloaked in such secrecy that the outside world was in the dark about the death of Mr. Kim’s father in 2011 until the North Korean media announced it two days later. |
| A prolonged absence of a top North Korean official often catches the attention of outside analysts, who look for signs of a political purge and other trouble within the isolated leadership. | A prolonged absence of a top North Korean official often catches the attention of outside analysts, who look for signs of a political purge and other trouble within the isolated leadership. |
| Park Soo-jin, a spokeswoman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Unification, said on Friday that the government could not comment on Mr. Kim’s health but was closely following it. | Park Soo-jin, a spokeswoman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Unification, said on Friday that the government could not comment on Mr. Kim’s health but was closely following it. |