Baseless rumors of Kim Jong-un's death spread on social media — again

Unsubstantiated claims that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has died are circulating online overseas, with no evidence found to support them.

According to British outlet The Sun, the New York Post and India's Economic Times, unverified claims recently spread on SNS alleging that Kim had suffered a brain hemorrhage and been rushed to a hospital in Beijing, Yonhap reported.

The outlets traced the rumors to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by Xie Wanjun — also known as Samanjun — a Chinese dissident based in the United States.

Xie posted on X on Monday that rumors were circulating claiming Kim had lost consciousness after a sudden brain hemorrhage and, due to North Korea's poor medical conditions, had been transferred to a hospital in Beijing, where he later died.

Some posts went further, claiming that after Kim's death, his sister Kim Yo-jong, head of the Korean Workers' Party General Affairs Department, had seized power rather than his daughter Ju-ae, and that the Chinese Communist Party had dispatched 9,000 troops to Pyongyang to help facilitate a transfer of power to Ju-ae. No evidence was offered to support either claim.

A large number of overseas SNS accounts found themselves compelled to monitor the situation as it developed. What had been a relatively calm online atmosphere was suddenly thrown into turmoil.

Xie claims to be chairman of the China Democracy Party, which Beijing has designated an illegal organization.

North Korean state media, however, including KCNA and Korean Central Television, reported Monday that Kim had visited the "National Clothing and Footwear Exhibition 2026" held in Pyongyang that day.

The state outlets also published photographs showing Kim touring the exhibition hall alongside his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter Ju-ae, viewing items including women's coats and children's shoes.

South Korean officials at foreign affairs and security agencies also dismissed the death rumors circulating on overseas SNS, with reactions ranging from "absurd" to "first I've heard of it."

This is not the first time rumors of Kim's death have surfaced.

In 2020, speculation about his health — and eventually his death — emerged after Kim skipped the annual memorial visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on April 15, the birthday of founding leader Kim Il-sung. Kim had made the visit every year since taking power in 2012.

He then appeared in public on Labor Day that year, attending the completion ceremony for a fertilizer factory in Suncheon, South Pyongan Province, where he personally cut the ribbon and toured the facility, Yonhap reported at the time.

He acknowledged cheering crowds and issued detailed instructions to officials on factory operations.

The appearance, after a 20-day absence, effectively put to rest the false reports of his death or serious illness that had spread worldwide.

Speculation about Kim's health — fueled by a family history of obesity and heart disease — has long been a recurring issue, but that episode, too, was a product of what analysts call an "infodemic": the viral spread of misinformation and distorted claims.

At the time, the South Korean government dismissed both the health and death rumors, stating there were "no unusual developments," and even convened a standing committee of the National Security Council to compile relevant intelligence and issue an authoritative conclusion of "nothing unusual" — yet the infodemic proved impervious to official denials.

The exact reason for Kim's absence from the memorial visit was never confirmed, though some analysts suggested it may have reflected both confidence in his grip on power and a desire to exercise caution amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the end, whether to attend the memorial or not was, for Kim as North Korea's absolute ruler, entirely his own decision to make.