For quite some time now, the airwaves have been rife with speculations of North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un being rendered incapacitated, or even dead. While some have said that the supreme leader of the communist state has gone into a vegetative state, others were of the opinion that he succumbed to what was supposedly a medical surgery relating to the heart going catastrophically wrong.
Kim Jong Un, we all know, is an obese, and a heavy smoker, apart from being particularly lethargic. As such, he is believed to have developed a chronic cardiovascular disorder, which the medical team could not handle any longer. Kim Jong Un is said to be indisposed and at death’s door (if not already across it) according to US intelligence officials, whereas South Korea has played down such reports.
What came as a rather sad surprise for the world, however, was his sudden and what many would call – unannounced appearance when it was least expected. He appeared at a ceremony at a factory in the city of Sunchon, the North’s state news agency said, later releasing photos from the event.
However, even a common eye, upon having a look at the pictures from the ceremony would somehow feel that Kim had in fact put on a lot of weight recently.
Social media, meanwhile, is rife with speculations yet again. This time, many users feel, that Kim Jong Un, or the North Korean establishment (in his absence), has employed a move to deviate growing attention towards the country’s obvious and imminent political instability. Much like other dictators, many feel that the person to have made the recent appearance on behalf of the actual Kim was his double, or what can be referred to as a clone.
Is the Kim Jong-un appearing on May 1 the real one? 4 things to watch: 1. Teeth 2. Ears 3. Hair 4. Sister 金正恩露面被疑替身 網友提出4個理由. 1. 牙齒明顯不同 2 耳朵形狀不同 3 神情和頭髮 4 妹妹年輕了十歲 pic.twitter.com/ngKIyNtPpT
— Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng 曾錚真言 (@jenniferzeng97) May 2, 2020
More of old and new photos "Kim Jong-un" to compare. 更多「金正恩」新老照片對比。 pic.twitter.com/zvaMlUpTcP
— Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng 曾錚真言 (@jenniferzeng97) May 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/IndoPac_Info/status/1256837368742473729?s=20
Users pointed out glaring differences between the shape of teeth, hairstyles and even ear shapes of varying pictures, supposedly of the same Kim Jong Un, leading to suspicions of him having clones being almost validated.
It must be mentioned that in July 2017, during the launch of North Korea’s ICBM, Hwasong-14, Kim Jong Un was no less than seen having a chat with his exact look-alike.
Another possibility which is not being given much thought relates to the fact that the ceremony could in-fact be a contingency plan being played out by North Korea to indicate to the world that all is well and that their supreme leader is in fact in the prime of his health. Meanwhile, there is no independent verification of the video footage from Sunchon being recent. As a matter of fact, it was released by the state media. The thing about media in communist autocracies is this – it is a mere tool of propaganda in the hands of those in power.
While the bulk of this is conjecture, the possibility of Kim Jong Un being incapacitated still, cannot be explicitly ruled out.
