An expert believes strange marks on Kim Jong-un's head may reveal a dependence on medicinal drugs due to being in agony.
The leader of North Korea was spotted last week with a large black mark on his head, not the first time he had been seen with such a blemish.
Michael Madden, a leading expert on North Korea’s elite, said there were a couple of possibilities and that "bruising from receiving injections" may be the reason.
He said: "The marks have different colours and appear in different places. The most likely type of injection Kim Jong-un would receive there would be anti-inflammatory steroids to alleviate joint pain.
"This is similar to people who experience bruising from IV treatments in hospitals."
Mr Madden, a fellow of The Stimson Center in Washington DC who also runs the North Korea Leadership Watch website, said the injections might be about protecting Kim’s strongman image.
He said: "If we check Kim Jong-un’s public schedule, he makes fewer appearances than he did before.
"So if he does have chronic or routine joint pain, he might have one course of treatment for the office or at home, and then another more intensive course of treatment for public appearances."
North Korea is known to be fiercely authoritarian and portrays misleading images of events and the work of its leader.
The expert then explained that elites in the regime "gossip" about the Kim family in the same way they would about soap operas like Coronation Street and EastEnders.
As a result, it is rare for information about Jong-un to not be engineered in some way as his appearing as weak may cause alarm or be "dangerous to his authority."
Recently, footage of weeping fanatics was broadcast as it was revealed the country's leader had been ill as they dealt with the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
They still claim a death toll of just 74 and that the virus reached North Korean shores in just May of this year.
Analysis of his recent public outings, of which there are now fewer than normal recorded, show him walking short distances, or standing still to make speeches.
Comparisons were made to footage from the past where the 38-year-old was shown to be far more energetic
In 2021, it was noted the leader had lost a great deal of weight, which appears to have been gained again. Steroid treatment is associated with both serious illness and weight gain.
Hi father, Kim Jong-il is known to have suffered a calcium deposit in his neck that looked like a tumour and meant he could only ever be photographed from a certain side.
"Perhaps, there are medical treatments which would prevent Kim Jong-un from having such a large growth, and perhaps we are seeing the results of those treatments," said Mr Madden.
Whatever the precise cause, the analyst is sure the signs point to a medical intervention.
"There are no other logical alternative scenarios on this one," he added.
