Kim Jong-un was a ‘heart attack waiting to happen’ after ballooning to 20st from gorging on Swiss cheese and burgers
NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-un was a heart attack waiting to happen as he gorged himself on a kingly diet of cheese, expensive steaks and up to ten bottles of wine a night.
Kim‘s allegedly extraordinary appetite has come under the spotlight amid rumours he has undergone a botched heart surgery, being left either in a vegetative state or dead.
North Korea‘s ruthless leader has ballooned in size since he first appeared on the world’s stage alongside his dad Kim Jong-il back in 2010.
South Korean officials previously estimated Kim – who stands around 5ft 6ins – weighs up to 20 stone.
This would give him a BMI of 44.9 and classification of morbidly obese.
Doctors believe those with such a high figure are 250 per cent more likely to die from any cause compared to those in favourable range, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
And a study by Johns Hopkins University found severe obesity was linked to a fourfold increase in heart failure.
Various reports over the last week speculate about Kim’s health after he went under the knife on April 12.
North Korea remains silent, and its likely the world will not know for sure whether he is dead or ill until it is announced on the secretive regime’s carefully controlled state TV.
Intelligence services have claimed Kim is a prolific binge eater, drinker and smoker – all having major impacts on his health, including reports he had diabetes.
The Kim family’s ex-sushi chef Kenji Fujimoto has claimed the dictator once boasted he had consumed “10 bottles of Bordeaux” during a meal.
Kim is also reportedly absolutely crackers about Emmental cheese after developing a taste for it while studying in Switzerland as at teen.
It has been previously been reported his love of booze and cheese led to a bout of gout in 2014, leading to a disappearance that fueled previous rumours about his health.
His gout steroid treatment is reported to have led to roid rage.
Cheese and wine is not the only treats Kim, 36, enjoys however, with only the best being good enough for the North Korean leader as his people starve and live in poverty.
Kim’s staff reportedly brought along a host of high calorie and luxurious foods for their leader during his summit with US President Donald Trump in Vietnam last March.
North Korean chefs had reportedly brought along foie gras and Wagyu beef that can fetch up to £240 per steak.
A team of personal chefs was also brought along to help tend to Kim – with the cook at Hanoi’s luxury Metropole saying they tasted dishes for an hour to make sure they were perfect for their leader.
£15K WORTH OF BOOZE PER MEAL
Cavier and lobster are both also reportedly part of Kim’s palate, even though both are banned from being imported into North Korea by the United Nations.
Kim is also a fan of the delicacy shark fin soup, according to Mr Fujimoto.
Booze-loving Kim also reportedly likes to drink at least two bottles of Cristal Champagne per sitting, the chef said.
Bottles of the ritzy plonk can cost up to £7,500 – meaning Kim could drink away £15,000 during every meal.
Hundreds of thousands of bottle of cognac and vodka are also reportedly regularly imported to the Pyongyang, believed to be bound for Kim and the North Korea elite.
Kim is also reported to have pushed from a Western-style burger joint – such as a McDonald’s – to open in North Korea during talks with the US.
Kim allegedly hated being called fat – being dubbed Kim Fatty III in Chinese media.
North Korea officials reportedly made a state request to China to get them to drop the nickname.
Other insulting names used by Kim’s nearest ally include Kim Fat Fatty and Kim Abundant III.
Donald Trump even called Kim “short and fat” on Twitter as the two traded barbs before their string of high profile summits in 2018.
North Korea experts have previously claimed Kim’s weight is actually a well-cultivated ploy to make him look like his revered grandfather Kim Il-sung.
His grandad is also claimed to have been a gourmand, having cows fed beer and had them massaged to make the meat more tender.
Kim’s dad Kim Jong-il also died of a heart attack in 2011.
And while people may crack jokes about Kim’s weight battle, around 40% of North Korea’s population is undernourished.
It is estimated one in five children born under the dictator’s regime at stunted due to malnutrition.
Chinese medical experts have reportedly been sent to treat Kim as he has not been seen in public for two weeks.
Speculation began about Kim’s health after he failed to appear at an important celebration to mark the birthday of Kim Il-Sung, North Korea’s founder.
He had last been spotted four days prior at a meeting with government officials.
Unconfirmed reports have suggested that a procedure to insert a stent had gone wrong because the surgeon’s hands were shaking too much.
Kim is thought to have been taken into hospital after clutching his chest and falling to the ground while out in the countryside.
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Conflicting eports suggested he had been staying at an exclusive private villa on the country’s east coast after a number of people around him tested positive for coronavirus.
President Trump rejected rumours Kim had died during a press conference on Thursday, saying it was “incorrect”.
Just two days prior, the US President said: “I’ve had a very good relationship with him. I can only say this — I wish him well, because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say … that’s a very serious condition.”
Questions are now being asked about who will succeed Kim, with the leading candidate being his sister Kim Yo-jong.