Some things in life are constant no matter how much responsibility falls on your shoulders, and nothing is more universal than food. Kim Jong Un doesn’t get much love in the West, but it’s good to take a step back and remember that we are all human. And as human beings, many of us have one thing in common: an undying love of cheese. North Korea’s Supreme Leader may have discovered his love for Emmental cheese while studying in Switzerland as a boy. Emmental is a semi-hard Swiss cheese that can have a mild, nutty or fruity flavor.
Although other political leaders have their favorite foods, Kim Jong Un’s love for cheese may be his most passionate. Ten years ago, the Supreme Leader’s persecution of the Supreme Emmental was causing such bodily suffering that he reportedly withdrew from the public eye to resolve what appears to have been a particularly severe case of gout. Accurate information coming from North Korea is not always the most readily available, given how isolated the country is from the rest of the world, but Kim Jong Un’s health problems were widely reported in several newspapers at the time. While Emmental isn’t the only cheese Kim Jong Un enjoys, it’s at the top of his list – so much so that in 2014 he sent emissaries to France to learn how it’s made. For someone with so many types of cheese available to him, is a recommendation that is difficult to ignore.
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Is cheese the great unifier?
For someone who is as openly critical of the Western world as he is, it’s somewhat ironic that he loves our food so much that it’s making him sick. But if there was ever something that united humanity, cheese seems like a good candidate for the job. It is clearly not enough to completely overcome our differences, but an optimist can hope that Emmental is nevertheless slowly dissolving the division.
It may seem strange to talk about the food preferences of one of the world’s most infamous leaders. In a Western news source, you’re more likely to hear Kim Jong Un’s penchant for food framed as a modern-day Nero gorging on delicacies as his empire crumbles around him. Perhaps the representation is justified. Anyway, the way to come together is to focus on our commonalities and whether Kim Jong Un loves to eat Splurge-Worthy Cheeses From Around the World however we do it, we think it’s a good place to start.
More recently, however, Kim Jong Un may have put an end to his cheese mania. The leader appears to have lost some weight in recent years, with some analysts speculating about the cause. Some point to a potential health complication, while others speculate that he is simply taking better care of his health through diet and exercise. Maybe the gout scare he had got him out of his cheese habit after all.
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