kim jong un
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has always been portly but he is now said to be nearly 300 pounds. This undated picture of the dictator was released by the North Korean News Agency, Nov. 4, 2016. Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has gained a tremendous amount of weight, ballooning to nearly 300 pounds, and officials of the Hermit Kingdom reportedly have asked the Chinese to stop calling him fat.

The Sun reported Kim has been referred to as Jin Pang Pang (Kim Fatty Fatty) and Kim Fatty III as well as Jin San Fei (Kim Abundant III) by Chinese web users. North Korean officials in Hong Kong have asked their comrades in China to stop the name-calling before Kim looks for someone to blame, Apple Daily reported.

Kim’s weight gain reportedly is the result of binge-eating and drinking to cope with fears of assassination and insomnia, South Korean intelligence reported.

Kim reportedly tasked scientists to develop a weight reduction pill that would work without diet or exercise. Ri Ran Hui, head of the Academy of Koryo Medicine, said the pill, developed from the skull cap plant, reduces brown and white fat tissue.

Kim, 33, is estimated to have gone from 198 pounds in 2012 to 286 pounds now as possible famine is developing in the country. Famine killed 3.5 million people in North Korea in the 1990s, and an editorial in state media earlier this year warned hard times might be returning.

North Koreans have suggested the weight gain might be Kim’s effort to emulate his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who had a cult-like following, the Express reported.

"North Koreans think being fat is good, unlike South Koreans who want to be skinny,” defector Cho Myung Chul told the Express.

Kim is believed suffering from gout, an inflammatory arthritis that has been linked to obesity. He also is believed to have developed diabetes.

South Korean intelligence said Kim may have had an eating disorder in his younger days, reportedly going without food for days at a time when his mother scolded him.

Kim’s former sushi chef Kenji Fujimoto said last week the dictator drinks 10 bottles of French wine over dinner, the Express reported. He reportedly imports Emmental cheese from Switzerland where he attending boarding school.