Kathrine Frich
The North Korean government haven’t made any official comments.
When a secretive country locks its doors to the outside world, even the smallest silence can trigger global theories.
Online whispers travel faster than official statements ever could.
Over the weekend, social media lit up with claims that one of the world’s most watched leaders had suddenly met his end.
Shopping for shoes
North Korean state media has dropped what the Daily Express calls “proof of life” pictures of Kim Jong Un after wild online talk claimed he died from a brain bleed.
Released on Monday, the photos show the 42-year-old ruler looking over women’s coats and children’s shoes at a clothing and footwear display, according to the British outlet.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim toured the event in person that same day. Still, the Daily Express noted that outside experts have not confirmed the images, so nobody knows for sure when the cameras actually clicked.
Wild whispers online
Those snapshots surfaced just hours after unbacked stories swept the internet claiming the dictator had slipped into a coma and died.
According to the Daily Express, the chatter started on Sunday when Wanjun Xie, a Chinese dissident living in the US with ties to the China Democracy Party, posted the death claim on X.
In his post, Xie alleged that Beijing had rushed top doctors from Peking Union Medical College Hospital to North Korea on Saturday after Kim suffered a major brain bleed, the outlet reported.
Troops and coma claims
The online allegations did not stop with the medical team. According to the Daily Express, Xie also claimed on X that Kim was flown to Beijing in a coma after his condition worsened, where doctors failed to save his life.
Along with the hospital story, the dissident alleged that China had sent 9,000 soldiers into the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the outlet noted.
By Monday, Pyongyang’s state media had answered the viral frenzy without saying a single word about the rumors, simply publishing the quiet photos of Kim inspecting rows of shoes and winter coats.
