Here’s a Bloomberg headline: “Kim Jong Un is Trim, Tanned and Loving a Parade.” It was about Kim Jong Un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011, who appeared at his country’s birthday parade in a tan ensemble with a brand new Bill Clinton physique, giving the thumbs-up to a crowd of horses and guys in hazmat suits. The “Great Successor’s” greatest success to date, the finance publication reported, was weight loss:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held center stage at a military parade, showing off to a national television audience a thinner frame, a trace of a tan and a haircut reminiscent of his grandfather — state founder Kim Il Sung...there was a lot of attention on a new-look Kim, who has undergone a noticeable weight loss over the past several months.
Kim’s glam transformation could be related to his brief brush with death last year. Or it could have something to do with the crippling U.S. sanctions and global pandemic that have exacerbated food shortages across the authoritarian country, which even the famously optimistic dictator acknowledged had caused a “crisis of suffering.” But back to more important matters: his trim new frame.
The Bloomberg Quicktake Twitter account, @Quicktake, tweeted this handy visual aid:
The video comes with this overlaid text:
A trim Kim turns heads at North Korea anniversary parade. Kim Jong Un sported a light suit and a slimmer figure...the North Korean leader may have dropped at least 44 pounds.
Congratulations to Bloomberg for their enterprising reporting. They were 11 days late to this story, beaten to the chase by Meghan McCain’s employer, The Daily Mail, all-time champion of revenge body journalism with an unstoppable eye for sartorial detail:
Kim Jong Un is slimmer than ever: Tyrant's chin looks prominent and there is space between his neck and jacket collar in new photos after he outlawed gossip about his weight
• Kim's facial features were notably prominent, particularly around his chin
• The 37-year-old's jacket provided generous space between his neck and collar
• Rumours about Kim's health forced Pyongyang to outlaw gossip about his weight
• Photos broadcast in June showed a dramatic weight loss from earlier this year
Bloomberg did not comment on the dictator's stems.
