North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears in a news report by North Korea's KCTV on June 5. Yonhap

By Yoon Ja-young

The Ministry of Unification has refrained from commenting on a recent media report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have lost weight ― news that sparked speculation about his health.

According to Yonhap News Agency in Seoul, a ministry official told reporters Thursday that it analyzes Kim's photos every time new ones appear in North Korea's state media. But the official said the ministry's analysis of Kim's health is not something it would make public.

The comment comes following a recent report by NK News, an English-language news site specializing on North Korea, which said June 8 that Kim Jong-un looked thinner based on an image released by North Korea's Korean Central Television (KCTV), in which he is presiding over a June 4 politburo meeting.


The report focused on his wrist, on which he was wearing what seemed to be a Portofino Automatic watch by Swiss company IWC Schaffhausen. It noted that the length of the strap past the buckle appeared longer than in previous pictures, taken last November and March, indicating a slimming wrist.