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North Korea's Korean Central Television (KCTV) has released a video about the country's leader, touching on his health issues, without going into specific details.
According to NK News, the video in question, titled "2021, A great Victorious Year" said that Kim had "completely withered away" as he had "suffered" for the people, while solving the nation's problems.
The video also repeatedly emphasised that North Korea had faced its "worst-ever challenges" and "hardships" during 2021.
A "food crisis" was mentioned during the documentary.
In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic is supposedly one of the challenges that was alluded to by the aforementioned terms.
Filmed walking down a staircase gingerly while holding an umbrella
At one point in the video, Kim is seen meeting North Korean generals at a construction site, while holding a blue umbrella.
He is then seen carefully walking down a flight of steps with some difficulty.
Source: Screenshot of KCTV video via NK News
Source: Screenshot of KCTV video via NK News
NK News has speculated that the scene, which happened in August 2021, is similar to a moment from a 2014 state documentary on Kim's activities, following his longest disappearance from public view.
At that time, the narrator said that Kim was not feeling well, while showing the leader walking with a limp, as seen below.
North Korean media previously said Kim's slimmer state was due to him eating less "for the sake of the country"
Previously at the end of 2021, North Korea's state media released photos showing Kim in a much slimmer state.
North Korean authorities have used his new look as part of the country's propaganda to insist that he is healthy, just eating less "for the sake of the country" grappling with severe food shortages.
Kim was photographed during a key ruling party meeting.
These meetings are where he usually makes important New Year policy announcements.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the Workers' Party's Central Committee met to decide policies meant to "guide the struggle of our party and people" to "the next stage of victory".
The meeting had marked Kim's 10 years in power following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.
Kim was previously absent from public for a month, sparking concern he might have been too unwell to be seen by his country people.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization had estimated that North Korea was short 860,000 tonnes of food for 2021 alone.
This is equivalent to approximately 2.3 months of food use.
The pandemic and international sanctions have cratered the North Korean economy.
But observers do not expect a regime change or any credible challenges to Kim's power.
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Screenshots from KCTV via NK News