October 20, 2014 7:42 AM EDT
A former physician to North Korea’s f0unding leader Kim Il Sung speculated in a new interview that the ailments which afflicted the elder Kim may explain the recent public absence of his grandson and the country’s current leader, Kim Jong Un.
Kim So-Yeon, a phyisician who defected to South Korea in 1992, told CNN that Kim Il Sung suffered from a range of maladies, including stress, obesity, diabetes and heart problems, as well as an obsessive drive to live to the age of 100. She observed the same symptoms in his son, Kim Jong Il.
Examining photographs of the youngest Kim to make claims that can’t be verified in the opaque country, the physician speculated that Kim Jong Un recent reappearance in public, limping with a cane after a prolonged absence for unspecified medical treatments, appeared to match the symptoms of his father and grandfather.
[CNN ]
Read next: Sorry, North Korea Conspiracists: Kim Jong Un Is Probably Just Sick
Take an Inside Look at North Korea Aug. 26, 2011. A North Korean woman looks down at the city of Pyongyang from the top of the Tower of the Juche Idea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 12, 2011. Central Pyongyang at dusk through a hotel room window. David Guttenfelder—AP Jan. 16, 2012. Light shines through a window on to a tank filled with goldfish inside an office at the Korean Central News Agency building in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 11, 2012. Under a North Korean flag, residents of Pyongyang wait for public transportation. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 26, 2008. North Korean commuters are seen riding a bus in central Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 12, 2012. A pedestrian walks past a large apartment block in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 12, 2012. A North Korean man rides a bike along the banks of the Pothong River in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 14, 2011. North Koreans pay their respects before a monument of Kim Il-Sung at Mansu Hill in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Sept. 17, 2008. North Koreans school girls walk hand in hand past a monument in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Oct. 11, 2011. North Korean construction workers labor in the Mansudae area of Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 9, 2012. North Korean women are pictured working in a thread factory in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 3, 2012. A North Korean student learns to drive a tractor on a computerized driving simulator at the Samjiyon Schoolchildren's Palace in Samjiyon, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP Oct. 9, 2011. A man walks past a building in Pyongyang where a picture of North Korea's late leader Kim Il-Sung hangs on its outer wall. David Guttenfelder—AP April 22, 2011. A woman looks at monkeys behind a glass enclosure at the central zoo in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 13, 2011. Workers carry painted doors along a road in Mangyongdae, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 14, 2011. Portraits of North Korea's late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hang on a wall at a children's school of performing arts in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP March 10, 2011. Children look through a subway car window in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 8, 2012. A North Korean soldier stands at a check point seen from a train heading to North Phyongan Province, about 50 kilometers (35 miles) south of the border town of Sinuiju along North Korea's west coast. David Guttenfelder—AP April 13, 2011. North Korean soldiers tour the grounds of the birthplace of the late President Kim Il-Sung at Mangyongdae, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 2, 2012. The hoof of a deer used as a door handle hangs on the door of the small cabin that is said to have been the home of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, and the birthplace of his son and late leader Kim Jong-Il at what was a secret military camp during the fight against the Japanese at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 4, 2012. a North Korean soldier working as a guide walks through a forest at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 3, 2012. A man clears snow from the base of a monument at the Samjiyon Grand Monument area in Samjiyon, North Korea at the base of Mount Paektu. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 11, 2012. Snow blankets farm fields on the outskirts of Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 17, 2011. People work in a field outside of Kaesong, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 10, 2012. A North Korean man rides a bicycle on the grounds of a communal apple farm on the outskirts of Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Oct. 8, 2011. A North Korean man rests near a farm field along a highway outside the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 15, 2011. 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North Korean ushers peer into the concert hall before the start of a performance by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 26, 2008. North Koreans look through the performance program before the start of a concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 27, 2008. North Korean girls sing a song entitled "Generalissimo Kim Il Sung Danced With Us" at the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Oct. 11, 2011. North Korean soccer fans react after their team missed a goal during a World Cup qualifying match between North Korea and Uzbekistan, in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP April 15, 2011. Women perform a dance routine with badminton rackets at an event to mark the birthday of Kim Il Sung at a park in Pyongyang, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP Sept. 16, 2008. A guide gives a lecture in front of a diorama showing the Korean War's 1950 battle of Taejon as she gives a tour of the War Museum in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 16, 2012. Fireworks explode over the heads of North Korean soldiers lined up in formation at Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang during a parade of thousands of soldiers commemorating the 70th birthday of the late Kim Jong-Il. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 14, 2012. A North Korean stands at attention as others cheer during the unveiling of a new bronze statue depicting the late leader Kim Jong-Il and his father Kim Il-Sung at Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder—AP Feb. 16, 2012. A large screen shows video, recorded during the period of mourning following the death of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, during a concert in Pyongyang to commemorate his death and what would have been his 70th birthday. David Guttenfelder—AP April 12, 2012. 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David Guttenfelder—AP April 25, 2013. North Korean soldiers and civilians stand on a foot bridge to look at goldfish in a moat as they tour the grounds of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, in Pyongyang, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP April 25, 2013. North Korean soldiers and civilians pose for souvenir photos in front of a fountain as they tour the grounds of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, in Pyongyang, North Korea. David Guttenfelder—AP More Must-Reads from TIME Introducing the 2024 TIME100 Next Sabrina Carpenter Has Waited Her Whole Life for This What Lies Ahead for the Middle East Why It's So Hard to Quit Vaping Jeremy Strong on Taking a Risk With a New Film About Trump Our Guide to Voting in the 2024 Election The 10 Races That Will Determine Control of the Senate Column: How My Shame Became My Strength