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North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un on February 8, 2021 (left) and June 15, 2021
Photo: AP
North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un has fallen - and the government has responded with an unusual step.
Kim looked "emaciated," the state broadcaster KCTV quoted an unnamed resident of the capital Pyongyang.
This "breaks the heart of the people the most," reported the citizen.
Everyone talks about how he "immediately came to tears" when he saw Kim.
According to experts, the government wants to use Kim's weight loss to strengthen citizens' loyalty to those in power in times of a food crisis.
The message sent from Pyongyang was that Kim worked "very hard" for people - to the extent that he "skipped meals and lost weight."
Kim blames nature
This month the leadership in Pyongyang had admitted that there was a food crisis.
The food situation was "tight," said Kim, and agriculture had produced less grain than planned.
Kim sees the blame in nature: Typhoons would have damaged the harvest.
North Korea was only hit by rains and floods last July and August.
Then some severe cyclones raced over the region.
The crop failure is dramatic for North Koreans: even before the corona crisis, around eleven million of them were malnourished. Because of the corona pandemic, North Korea closed its borders at the beginning of last year. As a result, trade with neighboring China, which is essential for the country, has slackened significantly. In addition, the country is economically only slightly productive and is subject to international sanctions because of its nuclear and missile program.
A public discussion about the state of health and private life of Kim Jong Uns was so far an absolute taboo in North Korea.
The ruler was severely overweight for many years.
He is also known to smoke a lot.
Internationally, Kim's health is closely monitored.
It is unclear, for example, who would succeed him in the event of his death and how stable the power apparatus in Pyongyang would then be.
lau / ire / AFP
