Kim Jong-un’s recent public appearances have shown the leader’s weight has ballooned and he appeared to be uneasy on his feet.
On a visit to a shoe factory Kim, branded “little rocket man” by President Donald Trump, appeared off balance and his face was covered in sweat.
He was forced to take a seat on a folding chair in another visit which saw him struggling again.
The lack of weapons activity has been linked to his reported ill health as the once busy testing grounds fall silent with rumours building.
It has been claimed he is suffering from gout, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, with potentially fatal results.
The lavish lifestyle of a dictator has been blamed for his ill health with Kim gorging himself on luxurious food while his people starve.
He is known to have an appetite for expensive cheese, beer and fish which are specially imported into the prison state for him.
Expert chefs are also brought into the country from around the world to prepare feasts for Kim.
Following a six week disappearance North Korea’s leader has previously admitted suffering from an “uncomfortable physical condition”.
It has also been revealed that a team of doctors work around the clock to prolong his life.
Reports of his ill health have not stopped the despot from issuing terrifying warnings in his war of words with President Trump.
Defence officials have warned North Korea has a stockpile of plague which it could unleash in just ten days as Kim Jong-un turns his attention to biochemical weapons.
Military experts have warned Kim is not only pursuing a nuclear missile programme but also developing biochemical weapons amid fears of World War 3 breaking out.
Kim is said to have a stockpile of the bubonic plague and it is believed Pyongyang could launch germ warfare in just 10 days.
Pathogens stockpiled by Kim includes Smallpox, Anthrax, Yellow Fever, Typhoid and Cholera, South Korea’s defence ministry believes.
North Korea has previously denied any existence of a bioweapons programme.
Defence experts warned in a paper published by the Belfer Centre at Harvard University that countering North Korea’s biological and chemical programmes was “urgent and necessary”.
It is thought North Korea would deploy a biological attack using missiles, drones, planes and rocket launches.
Aircraft could fly like crop sprayers dousing cities with the airborne disease, or fired in short-range rockets across the border.
The report said: “North Korea is likely to use biological weapons before or at the beginning of a conflict to disrupt society and create panic, incapacitate societies, and/or cause a significant military diversion.”