Kim Jong-un ‘dead’ rumour spreads online after claim from exiled Chinese dissident
The internet is abuzz with wild speculation that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is dead.
Questions remained over what this could mean – if true - for the future of the isolated Communist nation after it was reported he was ‘left in a coma after suffering a brain hemorrhage’, reported the Daily Star.
Chairman of the banned opposition group, China Democracy Party Xie Wanjun alleged in an X post how medics had been ‘dispatched’ to treat the autocrat: “It is rumored that recently, Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Supreme Leader of North Korea, suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage and fell into a coma.”
Unilad has been unable to verify the claims.
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Xie also claimed that Kim had been transferred from North Korea for emergency treatment to China’s Peking Union Medical College Hospital located in the capital, Beijing.
“However, due to the severity of his condition and the fact that the optimal window for treatment had passed, Kim Jong-un succumbed to his injuries and died,” Xie said.
“His body has been secretly transported back to North Korea, and the news of his death is being kept under wraps.”
He later added: “Rumours circulate that Kim Jong-un has died, thwarting Kim Ju Ae's succession plans and potentially plunging North Korea into civil war.”
He claimed the Chinese Communist Party dispatched 9,000 troops to Pyongyang to assist Kim’s daughter and potential successor, Kim Ju Ae in stabilizing the regime.
Xie also shared what appeared to be a notice from the PLA’s Northern Theater Command, which has not been verified or confirmed by China. It said: “In preparation for a potential civil war in North Korea, the Northern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army has entered a state of high alert (Level III), and all troops within the theatre command have been ordered to...Leave, family visits, and demobilisation/retirement are suspended; personnel who have left the area are recalled; and strict control over personnel entry and exit is enforced!”
There are no independent sources verifying the claims by Xie.
The last public appearance by Kim was on October 13, reports the Star, when he opened the new National Defence Revolution Museum.
Speaking to the Sun, North Korea analyst Benedict Rogers said following previous rumors of Kim’s ill health, the regime had released evidence of his well-being, and he expected officials to do so in this case.
“There have been rumors before of his death. He doesn’t look a well man, he’s extremely overweight,” Rogers 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.
“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.”
In 2014 and 2020 similar rumors about the removal of North Korea’s leadership also circulated and these were later proved to be false.
Topics: North Korea, Kim Jong-un, World News
Michael D. Carroll