North Korea’s state-run media reported on
Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un had provided field guidance at a ‘historic site
associated with the Fatherland Liberation War’. The report was accompanied by
photographs of Kim, but what drew people’s attention in the South is not the
visit itself but the leader’s unusual hair. Based on the large image decorating
the front page of the Party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun, some media speculated the
right side of his hair had gone gray, raising questions about the leader’s
health.
 The photo of Kim Jong Un in the June 9th edition of Rodong Sinmun that garnered so much attention. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
However, closer examination reveals the
suggested discoloration of his hair was merely from overuse of hair gel. Kim’s
hair in general in the main photo looks too oily and wet — a classic problem
when you use too much gel. In this state, your hair can bounce off light in the
sun, and depending on which angle the photo is taken from it can look a
different shade.
 A blow up of the previous photo. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
This argument is further substantiated by
photos released of Kim from the same day. Rodong Sinmun included a spread of
eight other photos, while KCTV also broadcast images from the visit, none of
which contain Kim with grayish hair.
 Kim Jong Un in another photo published on hte same day. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
 And another from the same day. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
 And another still… Image: Rodong Sinmun |
South Korean officials from the Ministry of
Unification and intelligence circles supported this same argument, saying it
simply looks like “an overuse of hair gel.”
The conspicuous bad hair job does raise the
question, “Who does his hair?” But based on past photographs that have put on
display bad hairdos so bad they border on eyesores, it also seems possible that Kim handles
his hair himself. All things considered, the ‘graying hair of the leader’
simply seems to stem from a hairdo gone terribly wrong.
*Views expressed in Guest Columns are not necessarily those of Daily NK.
