State media publishes Kim Jong Un photos as rumours of his death circulate

Photos released after the death claim

Rodong Sinmun published photos showing Kim Jong Un, 42, touring a clothing and footwear exhibition with his daughter, Kim Ju Ae. The pictures appeared a few hours after a Chinese dissident living in the United States claimed, without offering evidence, that Kim had been taken to a Beijing hospital in a coma and died there. The state news agency dated the pictures to Monday, 19 October, but said the date had not been independently verified. In one image Kim inspects a pink shoe, and in another he studies rolls of fabric.

Source of the claim

The allegation comes from Wanjun Xie, who presents himself as head of the Chinese Democratic Party, an organisation that Chinese authorities have outlawed. Xie said Kim suffered a severe brain haemorrhage and was moved to Beijing because North Korea lacked the medical facilities to treat him. He later claimed Kim had died, that his body had been secretly returned to North Korea, and that the regime was hiding the death. Xie has previously circulated unverified claims, including speculation about the death of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In a post on X, he wrote:

His body has been secretly transported back to North Korea, and the news of his death is being kept under wraps.

Missing signs and earlier false alarms

South Korean intelligence officials told Yonhap they had received no information supporting the death claim. A sudden collapse in Kim's health would probably show beyond North Korea's borders, through tighter Chinese security on the frontier, more activity at North Korean diplomatic missions, and reports reaching defectors in South Korea through informal networks along the Chinese border. None of those signs has appeared this time. The rumour also recalls a 2020 claim by a high-profile North Korean defector, who said he was 99% certain Kim had died after heart surgery. Kim then appeared in public shortly afterwards, and that claim was disproved.

Health and succession questions

South Korea's spy agency said in September that Kim was extremely obese and at risk of heart disease, and it believes he may be preparing his daughter to take over. Heart attacks killed both Kim Jong Il and Kim Il-sung, his father and grandfather. Kim Ju Ae has become a more regular presence at military events, although she has not been formally named his heir. A Kim Ju Ae reign would be the first time North Korea was ruled by a woman. Each new rumour renews the question of who will lead the country next, because the regime releases so little information that can be verified.