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Wild rumors claim that Kim Jong Un is dead or in a coma after a brain hemorrhage
It has been rumored that Kim Jong Un is dead or in a coma after a brain hemorrhage.
Online users claim the Supreme leader of North Korea, 42, was rushed to a hospital for urgent treatment after experiencing severe bleeding.
According to The Sun, Jong Un was taken out of the country to Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China, due to the inadequate medical facilities in Pyongyang.
Claims about Kim Jong Un spread online
Wanjun Xie, chairman of the China Democracy Party, was among those speculating about the leader's health on X.
He wrote: "It is rumored that recently, Kim Jong-Un... suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage and fell into a coma. Although a team of medical experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital was dispatched to North Korea to assist in his treatment, the poor medical conditions in North Korea forced Kim Jong-Un to be transferred to Peking Union Medical College for emergency treatment."
He then went even further to claim that Jong Un had "succumbed to his injuries and died ... due to the severity of his condition," per the Express.
The leader's last public appearance was on October 11, when he was reportedly seen touring a defense museum at an undisclosed location in the North Korean capital.
North Korean analyst Benedict Rogers said he expects the regime to address the unverified claims soon.
"There have been rumors before of his death. He doesn’t look a well man, he’s extremely overweight," he said. "What’s happened in the past when the supreme leader dies is that there’s an orchestrated outpouring of public grief.
"People are in the streets wailing and crying. Newsreaders are sounding very emotional," he continued, adding: "We haven’t seen anything like that yet. Either that will happen - or if he’s still alive, they’ll release some evidence that he is still alive."
Similar death rumors emerged in 2020
This isn't the first time it was rumored that Jong Un has been the subject of death rumours.
In 2020, it was speculated that he had passed away after he failed to appear in public for several months.
The claims were eventually undermined when North Korean state media released images of him attending the opening of a fertilizer factory.
Who could succeed Jong Un?
Questions about Kim's potential successor have also resurfaced amid the unverified reports.
His younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, 38, has long been considered an influential figure within North Korea's leadership and has been suggested as a possible interim ruler.
She has attracted attention for insulting other foreign leaders, including telling former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to "shut his mouth," and calling him "really simple and childish" and labeling former US President Joe Biden an "old man with no future".
Yo-jong would take control for an interim period until Kim Jong Un's daughter, 13-year-old Kim Ju-ae, is old enough to succeed him.
The teenager has accompanied her father on several high-profile events, including a state visit to China last year.