KIM Jong Un has a son, but he is too “pale and thin” for North Korea’s liking and is kept out of public view, says a former spy chief.
The explosive claim was made by Choe Su-yong, a retired National Intelligence Service (NIS) official in neighboring South Korea.
Citing sources in the North, he alleged that the boy’s “unattractive physical appearance appears to have deterred Kim from revealing his son in public.”
“Unlike his father, or his sister, who is plump and well-fed, Kim’s son is said to be pale and thin,” he told the Korea Times.
“I heard that your son is nothing like his great-grandfather, Kim Il-sung.”
North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, is known to be quite chubby.
For North Korean leaders, a resemblance to Kim Il-sung, the nation’s plump founder, is believed to be a must-have attribute.
The current leader has been accused of exaggerating his resemblance to Kim Il-sung, his grandfather, in a bid to bolster his own legitimacy.
And there may be more chubby North Korean leaders to come: Kim Jong Un’s “chubby” daughter, Kim Ju-ae, rose to fame in late 2022.
In contrast, no known photographs of his “pale and thin” son have yet emerged. But experts believe we can visualize it simply by looking at a younger Kim Jong Un, who used to be thin.
A handful of photographs have emerged showing the slender tyrant before he reached his current size. Michael Madden, founder of North Korea Leadership Watch, said: “When Kim Jong Un was the hereditary successor, he was actually thin.
‘You go back and see those photos. He was a thinner guy.
‘His father and aunt told him he needed to gain weight so he could project authority.
“So that when the North Korean elites, especially the old generals, saw this 27/28-year-old guy, they would feel physically intimidated by him.”
Madden – a fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC – said this preference for plus-size leaders also had a historical basis.
He said: ‘There are some Korean concepts about how we present ourselves to other people, and there is a certain idea about attraction and attractiveness.
‘The definition of what is considered attractive and pleasant is going to differ greatly from what we would see in the West.
‘When we see Kim Jong Un, when we see his father, we see his grandfather, right? Chubby cheeks, right? Rosie chubby cheeks, smile on her face.
“Being thin and austere will remind the North Korean population that almost a million people died of hunger in the late 1990s.”
The NIS believes Kim Jong Un has three children: the son is the eldest, followed by Kim Ju-ae and then a boy of unknown sex.
Choe agrees that the eldest is a son, but believes that the dictator only has two legitimate children (this unnamed son and Kim Ju-ae) plus two children born out of wedlock.
For Madden, the question of which child ultimately rises to power remains unanswered.
He highlighted the example of Kim Jong Un, who gained strength before claiming the top job.
He said: “That’s what would happen to a pale, thin Kim child: they’re going to tell him to gain weight and get some sun.”
“The current leader did well.” On the contrary, North Korea has a way of bypassing the firstborn and giving leadership to a younger brother.
Kim Jong Un was chosen instead of his older brother, Kim Jong-chul, whom his father reportedly considered “wrong because she is like a little girl.”
A heavy rider: The chubby supreme leader is reported to weigh around 50 pounds
And although North Korea has never had a female leader, Madden believes that is not necessarily an obstacle for Kim Ju-ae.
He said: ‘If Kim Jong Un decides that his daughter will be his hereditary successor… last time I checked, North Korea is a dictatorship.
‘So when the leader says let’s go, let’s go, right?’ “Good luck standing up and opposing that when that happens.”