‘N. Korean regime manipulates images of Kim Jong-il’

he North Korean regime has repeatedly manipulated images of its leader Kim Jong-il to cover dark spots on his cheeks, a local daily reported last week, quoting government sources.

“Until last year, we believed that Kim had a surgery to remove his dark spots to show off his health to the public,” a government official was quoted as saying. “We, however, obtained a lot of evidence that he has heavily depended on the manipulations,” he added.

Photos taken by China and Russia media help reach such a decision. Especially for this year, there have been many opportunities to capture Kim due to frequent political events between them.

"All photos provided by Chinese media show images of Kim with a face full of liver spots on his cheeks, while those released by North Korean media show a smooth skin tone," the security official said on condition of anonymity.

He said, “It seems that the North Korean regime has removed the liver spots from the pictures of the leader so as to make him look young and attractive.”

“Kim’s hair sometimes looks thicker than usual in his pictures. Maybe, there are some other parts to be manipulated as well as skin and hair,” another government source said, asking not to be identified.