North Koreans are heartbroken over Kim Jong Un's dramatic weight loss, an unidentified resident of Pyongyang has said in a highly unusual public broadcast about the supreme leader's health.
The tightly controlled state media quoted the citizen in a segment discussing the leader's "emaciated" condition after photos emerged of him looking noticeably slimmer.
Analysts have interpreted the remarks as a desperate bid by the authorities to use Kim's weight loss to foster loyalty to the regime.
The impoverished country is more isolated than ever due to its self-imposed Covid blockade and earlier this month admitted it was tackling a food crisis.
In a rare TV broadcast about the autocratic leader's health - a topic of discussion usually taboo in public - an unnamed man from the capital was quoted as saying: "Seeing respected general secretary (Kim Jong Un) looking emaciated breaks our people's heart so much.
"Everyone is saying that their tears welled up."
Kim, a heavy smoker who has long been obese, was pictured looking significantly less overweight at a plenary meeting in Pyongyang earlier this month.
Some observers say Kim - who is about 5ft8in tall and believed to be 37 years old - may have lost between 22 and 44 pounds from an estimated weight of 308.
The broadcast did not provide any details on what had led to the weight loss, which was first noticed when the leader reappeared publicly in May.
Early last year speculation about Kim's health exploded after he missed the birth anniversary celebrations of state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.
NK News, a Seoul-based website that monitors North Korea, noted in June that his watch appeared to be fastened more tightly than before around an apparently slimmer wrist.
Kim's father Kim Jong-Il and grandfather Kim Il-Sung were also obese and heavy smokers. Both died of heart attacks.
Given Kim's tight grip on power in North Korea - and the uncertainty over any plans for a successor - international
media, spy agencies, and specialists closely watch his health.
A sudden decline in Kim's health could threaten the stability of nuclear-armed North Korea's 76-year-old system of hereditary leadership.
