Kim Jong-un is seen visiting an exhibition with his daughter, Kim Ju-ae. Observers believe North Korea released these images to counter the rumours. (People News/AI-generated image)
[People News] Chinese dissident Xie Wanjun, currently in the United States, claimed on social media platform X on October 18 that Kim Jong-un had fallen into a coma due to a severe cerebral haemorrhage. Despite emergency treatment from experts at Beijing Union Medical College Hospital and subsequent efforts to save him in Beijing, he reportedly passed away, with his body secretly returned to North Korea.
This rumour has drawn attention from the international community and some media outlets, largely due to the absence of substantial evidence, photographs, or authoritative sources to support it.
Following the viral spread of Xie Wanjun's claims, North Korean state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), swiftly released several photos on the 20th. These images show Kim Jong-un inspecting the 'National Clothing and Shoe Exhibition - 2026' light industry exhibition on the 19th, accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter, Kim Ju-ae. In the photos, Kim Jong-un appears to be interacting normally, which many interpret as North Korea's indirect response to dispel the rumours.
While state media has released photos to refute the claims, the exact timing of these images remains unverified.
Moreover, previous reports from foreign media have suggested that Kim Jong-un employs multiple body doubles, meaning that even if these photos were taken recently, they may not definitively show Kim Jong-un himself addressing the rumours.
Additionally, the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) had previously assessed Kim Jong-un's weight at 140 kilograms, categorising him as being in a high-risk group for cardiovascular diseases. Consequently, his health has been a long-standing focus of interest within the international intelligence community.
Kim Yo-jong: The situation between North and South Korea is unstable, and there are considerations to resume border broadcasts.
Simultaneously, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un and deputy director of the Workers' Party, issued a statement accusing the South Korean military. She claimed that from early August to mid-October, South Korea conducted 2,870 loudspeaker warnings and fired 201 warning shots, which severely threatened the safety of North Korean soldiers.
Kim Yo-jong indicated that the North Korean military is assessing the deployment of additional tactical strike capabilities along the southern border and is contemplating the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts to South Korea as a preemptive and suppressive measure.
Is Kim Yo-jong's action connected to the rumours surrounding Kim Jong-un's death? This remains difficult for outsiders to verify.
Nevertheless, rumours regarding Kim Jong-un's health and death frequently resurface online (similar bizarre death rumours were also reported in 2020), and North Korean officials typically counter these rumours by releasing photographs of Kim Jong-un participating in public events or inspections. Concurrently, North Korea's announcement of heightened military vigilance along the border further illustrates that the standoff atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula remains quite tense. △
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