Korea's dictator has a team of 130 doctors constantly battling heart disease and diabetes thanks to his terrible eating habits

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has a team of 130 top scientists battling to keep him alive, it has been revealed.

Defector Hyeong-soo Kim, Mr Kim, who fled North Korea in 2009, has said a mysterious Longevity Institute works to the sole purpose of preserving the leader's health.


Mr Kim worked at the institute when Kim Jong-un's father Kim Jong-il ruled the country.

Kim Jong-un is renowned for his indulgent diet, and due to his love of fine food and wine, French cheeses, and huge meals, he has piled on the pounds since he came to power.

This means the scientists are facing a constant fight to keep the leader's cardiovascular disease and diabetes at bay.

The situation meant researchers were desperate to study other obese people, but with so many North Koreans starving, they were forced to build their knowledge by spying on overweight foreigners instead - including political leaders.

He told Daily Star Online: 'There were 130 researchers that came from the engineering and medical departments of Kim Il-sung University.

'Also there's a research information centre that consists of diplomats or researchers that come from foreign universities.

'The institute is guarded 24/7 and also there is a very high four-metre wall that is electrified.'

Mr Kim said Kim Jong-un's father was also overweight, so research has been ongoing for many years.

'They developed food products because Kim Jong-il had cardiovascular disease and diabetes,' he said.

'The two Kims were rather obese, so they monitored and researched people that were obese, which is hard in North Korea.

'Because most of the people are going through malnutrition, they had to study and research the obese superiors or the political leaders.

'Even foreign diplomats or correspondents that come to North Korea were actually researched. These people didn't even know they were being studied.'

Mr Kim had to sign a secrecy contract pledging never to reveal what went on behind the shadowy institutes doors, but now that he is safe in South Korea he has spoken out.