Originally published at: North Korean residents "heartbroken" over Kim Jong-un's weight loss | Boing Boing
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They liked their Big Boy just the way he was, but the heartbreak was secretly about his new lifestyle and weight loss meaning that he’ll be around longer than they hoped.
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He really needs a full makeover. Just losing weight yet keeping that same look and hairstyle (if you can even call it that) is not working for him.
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Those jogging laps around the graveyard are paying off.
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Kind of amazing that it’s state media saying this. I’m sure something is being lost in the translation or in the reasons for which this is being conveyed. Is it just a way of announcing he’s lost weight? Or some odd psychology thing? You’d think they’d quote “social media” where residents were 100% happy with everything he does so this is odd–from the perspectives of a normal populace, but who knows how this plays in North Korea.
I wonder if he gained all the weight back, and they’re putting this out to suggest his weight loss was concerning the populace so they can say look, good news…!
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So no tin-foil hat enthusiasts starting with:
who seems to have lost a considerable amount of weight.
can’t concoct that the eeeeevil sister (well, evil essentially defines that dy’nasty) has killed her brother and they couldn’t find a convincing doppelganger with the same weight profile!?
(“Royalty breeds conspiracy” --mary chestnuttt)
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Optical illusion-- when you grow thousands of meters taller it makes you look slimmer.
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Especially when the graveyard keeps getting bigger.
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There are cultural reasons for this. An overweight ruler is taken as a sign that the nation is prospering, even if the common people are poor.
King Sejong (1418-1450), the most revered Joseon Dynasty ruler widely credited with creating the Korean alphabet, was known to have been obese and most likely had diabetes. He reportedly did not like to exercise and “loved meat so much that he did not have a meal without it when young.”
Meat and a sedentary lifestyle were elitist luxuries amid the harsh reality of everyday life in feudal Korea. A well-fed leader meant that he was well taken care of by his own people and that his society was, in turn, successful.
The Aug. 1991 issue of the North Korean magazine Chollima includes an article entitled “General Kim Il Sung is Korea’s God.” This metaphysical concept of the leader as the divine embodiment of the Korean nation requires the peoples’ hard work and absolute devotion to him.
The notion builds on traditional ideas of leadership in Korea: The people work for the leader; the leader doesn’t necessarily work for the betterment of his people but rather advances the grand vision and essence of the “minjok,” or ethnic nation.
In present day North Korea, defectors say, being overweight is likewise taken as a sign of wealth while being thin indicates poverty. This means that the state can spin Kim’s weight loss as a sign that he is sharing in the hardships faced by the people.
In addition, the regime may be trying to highlight the physical sacrifices of their Supreme Leader and motivate citizens to work harder during the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea’s austere lockdowns have ravaged its economy, and it has repeatedly signaled it may be several years before things change.
Kim’s propagandists may be trying to spin his weight loss into a symbol of sacrifice and motivate people to labor more intensively in the fields and factories.
Just as the North Koreans are tightening their belts, so is the supreme leader. Thus, the people are failing to uphold their role in securing the safety and stability of their nation.
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I, for one, accept Keto Lil’ Kim
Here I coulda sworn li’l kim’d said there was No Plague in North Korea.
Lol,
I’m only a little shorter than 5’8", and back in August 2020 I weighed in at a buttery 310LBs.
I’ve lost 44LBs since then and people at work keep telling me I look “much healthier”
As if 5’8" and 264LBs is in any way emaciated.
FFS his BMI is still FORTY.
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The borders have been closed since January 2020 and foreign trade has collapsed almost to nothing. That, rather than the virus itself, is causing an economic crisis.
EDIT: They might be about to admit to cases inside the country.
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I have a ton of empathy for every non-wealthy fucker living there.
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I know I had a tear in my eye when I first saw these pictures.
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