North Korean state media has published alleged ‘proof of life’ photographs following outlandish claims of supreme leader Kim Jong-un’s ‘sudden death’.
On Monday (19 October), North Korea‘s official Korean Central News Agency shared images depicting the 42-year-old browsing children’s footwear and women’s coats at a garment and footwear exhibition.
The photographs surfaced in retaliation to jaw-dropping claims that Kim had lapsed into a coma and died suddenly in Beijing, China, following a brain haemorrhage.
He reportedly toured the exhibition on the same day that the ‘proof of life’ photos were released.
However, the images have not been independently authenticated, and it remains unclear exactly when they were taken, as reported by The Mirror.
In one picture, he appeared to inspect a small pink shoe held by his daughter Ju-ae.
A series of ‘proof of life’ photos were shared (Korean Central News Agency)
In another, Kim is seen gesturing with his arms outstretched, as if addressing an official.
A third image released by the Korean Central News Agency shows the father-of-one reaching toward a displayed women’s coat.
Kim Jong-un’s death speculation unpacked
Snapshots of the dictator inspecting the garment and footwear exhibition come amid Wanjun Xie, a US-based Chinese dissident linked to the China Democracy Party, maintaining in an X post that Kim had died on Sunday (18 October).
He claimed a team of specialists from Beijing’s Peking Union Medical College Hospital had been sent to North Korea on Saturday after he suffered a ‘cerebral haemorrhage’.
He continued that the General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea was later transferred to Peking Union Medical Hospital for ‘emergency treatment’.
The rumour mill has been in overdrive (Korean Central News Agency)
However, due to the alleged ‘severity of his condition’, he ‘succumbed to his injuries and died’.
“His body has been secretly transported back to North Korea, and the news of his death is being kept under wraps,” the X user alleged.
Xie said that the North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, had apparently taken control of the country following his alleged death.
He added China had allegedly dispatched 9,000 troops to Pyongyang.
None of the allegations Xie made in the social media post were backed up by any medical records, images, or other independently verifiable evidence.
Despite this, some have taken Xie’s claims as gospel, and they have gained major traction with online outlets.
Kim Yo-jong breaks public silence
On Monday, Kim Yo-jong released a public statement warning South Korea amid circulating rumours about her brother’s wellbeing, as reported by The Express.
She did not reference any health-related claims.
Kim Yo-jong (Jorge Silva/Pool via Bloomberg)
Instead, she used the address to accuse the country of firing warning shots and broadcasting continuous warning messages.
“A grave situation is prevailing along the southern border due to the reckless behaviour of the ROK military gangsters,” she stated, using South Korea’s official designation, the Republic of Korea (ROK).
The director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea continued, explaining that the military was weighing up ‘deploying more tactical strike means along the southern border’.
She indicated this would serve as a ‘preemptive and suppressive measure to deal with contingency, and to resume the loudspeaker broadcasting against the ROK.’
LADbible has contacted the North Korean government and the Peking Union Medical College Hospital for comment.
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