North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un with his favoured child, Kim Ju-ae (left) and an image of a younger Kim Jong-un thought to resemble is secret son (Picture: Pen News/ AFP)
Kim Jong-un keeps his son secret because he’s so ‘pale and thin’ he’s considered ‘unappealing’, a former spy claims.
The North Korean dictator has often been pictured smiling and holding hands with his daughter when visiting ballistic missile tests, military parades and anniversary dinners since she first appeared in public in 2022.
Although reportedly just 10 years old, Kim Ju-ae is seen as her father’s likely successor, according to South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
But his son, his oldest child, has remained completely hidden from sight.
A younger Kim Jong-un, left, alongside his father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, who wore sunglasses (Picture: Pen News)
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (left), pictured when he was younger, didn’t appear in public 2010, just a year before he became supreme leader (Picture: Pen News)
No photos have emerged of the boy, whose name is not even publicly known.
This is because he’s too ‘pale and thin’ to appeal to North Korean tastes, embarrassing Kim Jong-un because he’s ‘not fat enough’, according to claims by Choe Su-yong, a retired NIS official.
Kim Jong-un, 40, is the third generation of his family to rule over the isolated state of North Korea since his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, created the country in 1948.
Hailed as a resistance fighter against Japanese occupation in the 1930s and 1940s, Kim Il Sung’s legacy is still powerful in North Korea.
Physical resemblance to him is thought to be considered a must for the country’s leaders.
Kim Jong-un, who himself did not appear before the world’s media before 2010, is even believed to play up the similarity of his own looks with the style of his haircut and suits.
But his son, who stands in relative contrast to the plumpness of his forefathers, is said to not ‘look like his great-grandfather, Kim Il Sung, at all’, Choe claims to have heard.
This ‘unappealing physical appearance seems to have discouraged Kim from disclosing his son in public’, according to the spy.
Choe said: ‘Unlike his father, or his sister who is plump and well-fed, Kim’s son is said to be pale and thin.’
However, his father has not always been the robust figure known for eating dangerous amounts of Emmental cheese.
Pictures of Kim when he was younger show a skinnier version of himself that may resemble to the son he keeps out of sight.
‘When Kim Jong-un was the hereditary successor, he was actually thin’, Michael Madden, founder of North Korea Leadership Watch, said.
‘You go back and see those pictures. He was a thinner dude.
‘His father and his aunt told him that he needed to gain weight so that he could project authority.
‘So that when those North Korean elites, especially those old generals, saw this 27/28-year-old guy, they would feel physically intimidated by him.’
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This preference for plus-sized leaders has a historical basis in Korean society, according to Mr Madden, a fellow of the Stimson Center in Washington DC.
Ideas about how people should present themselves and what makes them attractive vary across cultures.
Mr Madden said: ‘When we see Kim Jong-un, when we see his father – we see his grandfather, right? Chubby cheeks, right? Rosie chubby cheeks, smile on the face.
‘Being thin and austere is going to remind the North Korean population that almost a million people starved to death during the late 1990s.’
Kim’s son could still stand a chance at claiming the title of supreme leader if his dad’s path is anything to go by.
The current dictator is believed to have three legitimate children – Kim Ju-ae, the unnamed son, and a younger child of unknown gender, according to the NIS.
North Korea has never been led by a woman, and Kim Ju-ae’s gender may be a stumbling block her father is seeking to overcome with her public appearances.
The selection of his second child as his successor would match his own rise to power.
His father, Kim Jong-il picked him over elder brother Kim Jong-chul, who he reportedly deemed ‘no good because he is like a little girl’.
But the rise of what state media calls Kim’s ‘respected’ and ‘most beloved’ child is not guaranteed.
The NIS said: ‘We are keeping our eyes open for all possibilities because Kim Jong-un is still young, has no major health problems, and there are many variables.’
There’s time yet for his son to bulk up as his Kim Jong-un did.
Mr Madden said: ‘That’s what would happen with a pale and thin Kim kid, is he’s going to be told to gain weight and get some sunshine.
‘It worked out for the current leader.’
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