WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • North Korean state media released photographs showing Kim Jong Un inspecting shoes and women’s clothing after rumors claimed he had died.
  • The photographs have not been independently authenticated, and it remains unclear exactly when they were taken.
  • Wanjun Xie alleged Kim suffered a brain hemorrhage and died, but provided no independently verifiable evidence.
  • A similar 2020 death claim proved false after Kim reappeared, prompting its source to apologize.

North Korea released a new collection of apparent proof of life photographs showing Kim Jong Un touring a garment and footwear exhibition after social media erupted with claims that the dictator had died from a brain hemorrhage, as reported by The New York Posst.

The images published Monday by North Korean state media depict Kim examining children’s shoes, inspecting women’s coats and gesturing toward officials. The leader, 42, appears animated throughout the carefully presented series of photographs.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim toured the exhibition Monday. However, the photographs have not been independently authenticated, and it remains unclear precisely when they were taken.

One photograph shows Kim bending forward to examine a tiny pink shoe held by a young woman wearing a pale pink dress with two rows of buttons. Another captures him standing with his legs apart, arms extended and mouth open while apparently speaking emphatically to an official.

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A third image shows Kim reaching toward the sleeve of a rust colored women’s coat displayed on a mannequin. Several aides can be seen following behind the North Korean strongman as he moves through the exhibition.

The photographs surfaced only hours after sensational allegations spread online that Kim had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, fallen into a coma and died after being transported to Beijing for emergency medical treatment.

The claims came from Wanjun Xie, a Chinese dissident based in the US who is associated with the China Democracy Party. Xie posted a series of explosive allegations on X beginning Sunday, but offered no independently verifiable proof.

Xie initially claimed Kim had died and that China had dispatched 9,000 troops to Pyongyang because of concerns about a succession crisis.

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He later alleged that medical specialists had been sent from Beijing’s Peking Union Medical College Hospital to North Korea on Saturday.

According to Xie’s unsubstantiated account, the specialists were sent to treat Kim after a severe cerebral hemorrhage. He claimed the North Korean leader fell into a coma before being transferred to Beijing, where doctors were unable to save him.

Xie further alleged that Kim’s body was secretly returned to North Korea. None of those claims came with medical records, photographs, identifiable witnesses or any other evidence that could be independently verified.

Despite that glaring lack of proof, the story quickly gained attention across social media. Several international outlets also picked it up, including The Sun, which described the claims as unverified speculation.

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The rumors prompted questions about whether Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, had assumed control of the secretive regime. Pyongyang has not explicitly responded to the death reports, although the latest photographs appear intended to knock down the speculation surrounding Kim’s fate.

Kim’s health has been under international scrutiny for years. On Sept. 30, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that Kim weighed roughly 140 kilograms, or about 309 pounds, and faced an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease because of severe obesity.

Even so, the South Korean spy agency said it had detected no significant signs that Kim was in poor health. The agency reportedly pointed to his ability to run up stairs during an inspection of a naval destroyer.

North Korean state media previously reported that Kim attended the inauguration of the National Defense Revolution Museum on Oct. 11. An account of that ceremony was published two days later, but the appearance came before the alleged medical emergency and could not answer the latest claims.

The frenzy also revived a notorious false alarm from 2020. Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector who became a South Korean lawmaker, claimed at the time that he was 99% certain Kim had died following cardiovascular surgery.

Kim later appeared in public, and Ji apologized for spreading the erroneous report. Nevertheless, that old prediction resurfaced during the latest online commotion, with some accounts presenting it as if it were fresh evidence of Kim’s supposed death.

The new photographs now provide North Korea’s answer, at least visually, to the latest wave of rumors. The Post has sought comment from the governments of North Korea and China, as well as from Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

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