North Korea

[RTH10260]

move on - nothing to be seen

Kim Jong-un Lost Weight. No One Knows How or Why.
North Koreans say they were “heartbroken” when they saw Kim Jong-un looking “emaciated.” The regime has turned the weight loss into a propaganda victory.

By Choe Sang-Hun
June 29, 2021

SEOUL — All they had was TV footage — and a wristwatch.

When North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, re-emerged this month after a four-week hiatus from public view, outside analysts and news outlets began studying state news media for clues to explain his latest absence.

Right off the bat, they noticed that Mr. Kim, 37, looked considerably thinner than before. After comparing appearances by Mr. Kim on North Korean television in recent months, analysts noticed the brown leather band of his wristwatch looked a few notches tighter, supporting the idea that he had lost weight.

But that was as much as they had to go on.



https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/worl ... eight.html

[zekeb]

I read somewhere that his adoring masses are concerned about his weight loss. They should have been concerned about his excess weight in the first place. Coupling his weight with his family history with that fine NK healthcare system is a disaster waiting to happen.

[neeneko]

Maybe he used all that fabulous wealth and power to build a gym and hire a personal trainer?

[Frater I*I]

Maybe he used all that fabulous wealth and power to build a gym and hire a personal trainer?

Oooorrrr...meth...a lot of meth...it's a helluva diet plan...

[Slim Cognito]

I'd hate to be the doctor who had to tell him he needed to lose weight or die.

[zekeb]

I'd hate to be the doctor who had to tell him he needed to lose weight or die.

The doctor is probably losing his own weight right now.

[neeneko]

I'd hate to be the doctor who had to tell him he needed to lose weight or die.

I don't know... Kim Jong-un has always struck me as someone who is very mindful of taking people's advice. The 'infallible god' thing is mostly an image designed for public consumption. But in his personal and political dealings he has always been good about learning lessons from experts.

[slq]

I read somewhere that his adoring masses are concerned about his weight loss. They should have been concerned about his excess weight in the first place. Coupling his weight with his family history with that fine NK healthcare system is a disaster waiting to happen.

Grain of salt? Just because state media said his masses are concerned about his weight loss doesn't mean they really are.

[johnpcapitalist]

I read somewhere that his adoring masses are concerned about his weight loss. They should have been concerned about his excess weight in the first place. Coupling his weight with his family history with that fine NK healthcare system is a disaster waiting to happen.

Grain of salt? Just because state media said his masses are concerned about his weight loss doesn't mean they really are.

I think most North Koreans are more concerned about their own weight loss these days than about Kim's, as yet another famine, the worst in decades, appears to be rolling in. Thousands of housewives from upper-class party enclaves in Pyongyang have "volunteered" to go out to the countryside to work in the rice paddies, according to one report.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... ages-covid

https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/libr ... -rfa01.htm

[TheNewSaint]

another famine, the worst in decades, appears to be rolling in. Thousands of housewives from upper-class party enclaves in Pyongyang have "volunteered" to go out to the countryside to work in the rice paddies, according to one report.

Yeah, another one of those North Korea-only famines. Oddly no starvation problems 10 feet into South Korea, China, or Russia. And their heads of state aren't even deities!

[zekeb]

another famine, the worst in decades, appears to be rolling in. Thousands of housewives from upper-class party enclaves in Pyongyang have "volunteered" to go out to the countryside to work in the rice paddies, according to one report.

Yeah, another one of those North Korea-only famines. Oddly no starvation problems 10 feet into South Korea, China, or Russia. And their heads of state aren't even deities!

There are leaders and there are rulers. Leaders lead. Some rulers can lead. Many cannot. Kim cannot lead. We had a former guy who viewed himself as a ruler. He couldn't lead.

[neeneko]

DPRK probably is not going to have a 'leader' as you think of it any time soon. Kim was trained for this role from a young age, he is doing exactly what he needs to be doing in order to hold on to his position.

As for the famine... ever notice how countries under massive multi-decade sanctions seem to have trouble with their food supply? Funny that. DPRK started off stronger than RoK, and it's path is probably less a reflection on its leader and people than it is which markets they were locked into and out of. DPRK is what happens when you have a proxy war where one side ducks out and the other side keeps fighting because that is all they know.

[Notaperson]

Facing Chronic Shortfalls, North Korea Tells Citizens to Start Supplying Their Own Food

North Korea is ordering citizens to start producing their own food to prepare for a long-term food shortage that could last for three years, but ordinary people say that the government is shirking its responsibility, sources in the country told RFA.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated in a recent report that North Korea would be short about 860,000 tons of food this year, about two months of normal demand.

“The Central Committee outlined the policy to prepare for a long-term food shortage at the beginning of this month,” a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA July 2.

“They sent a directive to organizations at all levels, businesses and units in the province to solve the food shortage problem on their own,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

The order went from the Central Party to the Provincial Party Committee, according to the source. It emphasizes the seriousness of the food shortage under the prolonged coronavirus emergency.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/ ... 83519.html

By the way, if you're on Hulu there is a new (and quite interesting) documentary there titled: "North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator."

[Volkonski]

I am no expert on NK but I doubt most N. Koreans have access to much arable land.

[Suranis]

You have to remember that to a lot of oriental cultures being overweight is a sigh of power and wealth and sexiness. That's one reason Sumo Wrestling was so popular, they showed men who were massively big and powerful, whereas most Orientals are very thin. Seeing the mighty Dragon that's protecting their state as growing thinner is showing that he is less powerful and the state as less powerful, as if the state cannot even keep the leader good and fat, how can it protect them, or take care of them?

By the way, I've heard that the word "Oriental" seems to be a bad word in America now, and I'm not sure why. "Asian" would include the Indian Subcontinent and Most of Russia, Moldova, Kazakhstan etc, whereas "Oriental" means people from the Orient, so I think its much more descriptive.

I was also email friends with a woman from Kazakhstan for a few years, for whatever that's worth.

[fierceredpanda]

"Orientalism" has been used historically to refer to the culture of the Middle East, and to generalize and stereotype basically anything that isn't from The West. It's a term associated with prejudices that is falling out of favor with good reason.

[neeneko]

You have to remember that to a lot of oriental cultures being overweight is a sigh of power and wealth and sexiness.

Off Topic

By the way, I've heard that the word "Oriental" seems to be a bad word in America now, and I'm not sure why. "Asian" would include the Indian Subcontinent and Most of Russia, Moldova, Kazakhstan etc, whereas "Oriental" means people from the Orient, so I think its much more descriptive.

Yeah.. 'Oriental' as a description for people has the same taste at this point as using 'Negro' or 'Indian'. It was the word used to describe and lessen a group of people during a time of open racism so it is associated with all the meaning it had at the time. It is still racist in europe/uk, I think the US just tends to be louder and faster at brining up such things and pushing it.

[Suranis]

Off Topic

Thats the first time I've ever heard the word "Orientalism," and I've never ever heard of anything to do with the Middle East being described as anything to do with the Orient.

Huh, Looking at Wikipedia, it was a school of art in France in the 19th century. Blows my mind, to be honest. I suppose it technically is oriental as in "anything to the east", but bloody hell.

Ah reading down, wiki says the term originally came about as a sarcastic insult on a style of paintings of the Middle east by a critic, and the name stuck. OMHO the painting they show on wiki are pretty nice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism

[neeneko]

You have to remember that to a lot of oriental cultures being overweight is a sigh of power and wealth and sexiness.

Ack. My previous reply seems to have eaten my response to this part but kept the comment.

What I had started to say was that this is more of a 'was'. While DPRK is a rather special case with a.. how shall we say.. 'customized' culture, in general most cultures (including Europe/UK and the US) held being overweight as a sign of sex/power/wealth, but that died off during the industrial revolution. Same with south east asia, as food became more accessible through industrialization the aesthetics that required lots of wealth changed. It did get associated with the region in the european imagination though since the wave of industrialization hit after the wave of popular travelogue.

[Suranis]

You have to remember that to a lot of oriental cultures being overweight is a sigh of power and wealth and sexiness.

Ack. My previous reply seems to have eaten my response to this part but kept the comment.

What I had started to say was that this is more of a 'was'. While DPRK is a rather special case with a.. how shall we say.. 'customized' culture, in general most cultures (including Europe/UK and the US) held being overweight as a sign of sex/power/wealth, but that died off during the industrial revolution. Same with south east asia, as food became more accessible through industrialization the aesthetics that required lots of wealth changed. It did get associated with the region in the european imagination though since the wave of industrialization hit after the wave of popular travelogue.

Good point.

[northland10]

Facing Chronic Shortfalls, North Korea Tells Citizens to Start Supplying Their Own Food

Oh, dear. I wonder if this means we are going back to another stake-raising game with North Korea again. They tend to start pushing when they have internal finance/food issues in an attempt to get concessions from the west. I realize that actually just asking may be more helpful but that is not, nor has been a North Korean method ever since their founding after WWII. It is a show of weakness and after long stretches of occupations by others, most recently the Japanese, the north developed a serious we make our own desitany no bowing to others mentatily.

Asking for help is not currently in their DNA. They have to appear to be forcing the issue.

[RTH10260]

Kim Jong-un orders hotline with the South to reopen as he condemns ‘cunning’ US
North Korean leader said Biden offer of dialogue is ‘a facade’ and blamed the US for ‘hostile policy’

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies
Thu 30 Sep 2021 02.34 BST

Kim Jong-un has condemned a US offer of dialogue as a “facade”, state media reported, but said he had ordered officials to restore communication lines with South Korea to “promote peace”.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, the North Korean leader accused the US of continuing a “hostile policy” against his nuclear-armed country, despite the Biden administration’s offers of negotiations without preconditions.

Talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been at a standstill since the collapse of the February 2019 Hanoi summit between Kim and then-president Donald Trump over what the North would be willing to give up in return for sanctions relief.

Under Joe Biden, the US has repeatedly offered to meet North Korean representatives anywhere, at any time, without preconditions, while saying it will pursue denuclearisation.

But Kim condemned the declarations as “nothing more than a facade to mask their deception and hostile acts and an extension of hostile policy from past administrations”, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported.

Kim also said South Korea “still follows the US,” and that “mutual respect must be guaranteed and unfair views and double standards attitude dropped” before the countries could declare an official end to the 1950-53 Korean war, which ended with a truce but not a peace treaty.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... er-cunning

[northland10]

He can't go to a bargaining table until it looks like he forced the US to it. He also is probably probing how BIden reacts to get a better idea of who he is dealing with. This is the type of tactics both he and his father have used in the past. They never come straight at you though it might look like it.

[raison de arizona]

It’s the economy, stupid.

Kim Jong-un: North Korea to focus on economy in 2022

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has said the faltering economy will be the national priority this year as the country faces a "great life-and-death struggle".

He was speaking at the end of a key ruling party meeting, which coincides with him being in power for 10 years.

A self-imposed coronavirus blockade has left North Korea struggling with food shortages.

There was no direct mention of the US or South Korea in his speech.

Mr Kim said increasing development and improving people's living standards was the main task.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59845636

[RTH10260]

Kim Jong Un can be seen struggling to walk down stairs in a new North Korean propaganda film
Ryan Pickrell
Tue, February 1, 2022, 6:36 PM

• Kim Jong Un was spotted struggling to make his way down a set of stairs in a new propaganda film.
  Kim has had mobility issues before, and the footage comes amid speculation about his weight loss.
  Experts watch Kim's health closely because it is a key sign of the health of the regime.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be seen struggling to walk down a set of stairs in a new propaganda film celebrating the country's achievements in the last year. The film's release follows significant speculation about the young dictator's noticeable weight loss.

In the 110-minute documentary film titled "The Great Year Of Victory, 2021," Kim can be seen holding an umbrella and struggling to make his way down makeshift stairs at a construction site while others in his party descend normally, Reuters reported. The Telegraph posted the relevant scene on YouTube.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/kim-jong-un- ... 44694.html