North Korean state media has released photographs of Kim Jong Un, appearing to show the leader in good health at a time when online rumours claimed he had died. The pictures were published by the state newspaper Rodong Sinmun, which said they showed the 42-year-old touring a clothing and footwear exhibition with his daughter.
The images emerged within hours of a claim made by Wanjun Xie, a Chinese dissident who lives in the United States. Xie alleged, without offering evidence, that Kim had been taken to a hospital in Beijing in a coma and had died. Observers of North Korea say rumours of this kind have become a regular occurrence in a country where information is hard to check.
Photos and missing signs undercut the Beijing death claim
Xie describes himself as chairman of the Chinese Democratic Party, a group that Chinese authorities have banned. He has previously spread unverified claims, including speculation about the death of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
According to Xie, Kim suffered a severe brain haemorrhage and was flown to Beijing because North Korea did not have the medical facilities to treat him. He further claimed that Kim later died, that his body was secretly brought back to North Korea, and that the regime was hiding the death.
The photographs, however, show Kim studying displays while accompanied by his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, and his usual group of officials. No one can say precisely when the pictures were taken, but there are other reasons to doubt Xie’s account.
A sudden collapse in Kim’s health would likely leave traces beyond North Korea’s borders. China could strengthen security along its frontier to prepare for instability or a surge of refugees, and activity around North Korean diplomatic missions could rise. Defectors in South Korea also often receive information through informal networks along the Chinese border. None of these signs has appeared.
South Korean intelligence officials told Yonhap that they had heard nothing to back up the reports. The claim also echoes earlier false alarms. In 2020, a high-profile North Korean defector said he was “99% certain” that Kim had died after cardiovascular surgery, but Kim soon appeared in public and the claim fell apart.
Succession uncertainty keeps Kim’s health in the spotlight
The Kim family has ruled North Korea for three generations, yet the question of who follows Kim Jong Un is less clear than it was for his predecessors. His grandfather, Kim Il Sung, spent decades preparing his son, Kim Jong Il, to take over. By the time Kim Il Sung died in 1994, the plan for succession was firmly in place, and Kim Jong Il’s transition went relatively smoothly.
Kim Jong Un’s path to power was faster and less secure. After Kim Jong Il suffered a stroke in 2008, his youngest son was quickly promoted through the ranks, and by the time the elder Kim died in 2011, Kim Jong Un had been publicly named as the future leader. He then spent years strengthening his position, removing rivals and eliminating people he regarded as threats.
South Korea’s intelligence agency now believes Kim may be preparing his daughter to succeed him. She has increasingly appeared at high-profile events and military displays. She is thought to be only 13 years old, North Korea has never been led by a woman, and she has not been formally named as heir. Her age would also leave her exposed in any power struggle.
Such uncertainty helps explain why rumours about Kim’s health draw so much attention. When the future of the leadership is unclear, even unconfirmed reports about the man at the top carry weight.
Health concerns and a closed state fuel speculation
The second reason is that the rumours are not entirely implausible. Kim is overweight and a heavy smoker. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has repeatedly warned that his lifestyle leaves him at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, and heart problems and strokes are said to run in the Kim family.
Any serious change at the top would matter well beyond North Korea. A sudden leadership crisis would raise hard questions about control of the country’s nuclear weapons and the risk of political instability. Analysts have asked whether a power struggle could tempt hardliners to act aggressively, or whether unrest could set off a refugee crisis along the Chinese border. These concerns extend to Beijing, Seoul and Washington, which keeps around 28,000 troops in South Korea.
North Korea remains largely closed to outsiders, which makes it fertile ground for false reports. Only a small circle has regular access to the leader, and even intelligence agencies find it difficult to obtain reliable information. Much of what does emerge is qualified as unverified or only highly likely rather than confirmed.
The regime itself is also suspected of deliberately fuelling confusion by leaking misleading information to obscure events inside the country. That makes it difficult to judge any single report on its merits.
It is hard to believe that Xie uncovered major news that intelligence agencies, whose job is to track such developments, had missed. He may simply have been seeking attention. Alternatively, he may have wanted to embarrass Beijing by highlighting its ties to Pyongyang, although those links are already widely known. Whatever his motive, Xie is far from the first person to take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding North Korea’s leadership.
