The key facts
- The Sun, citing social media, reported a hemorrhage and coma of Kim Jong-un; no confirmations
- Koreanist Andrei Lankov: rumors about the DPRK leader's illness appear every two to three years and are not confirmed
- KCNA reported Kim Jong-un's visit to a clothing and footwear exhibition in Pyongyang on October 19
Another wave of rumors about the DPRK leader's health
Reports about the allegedly serious illness and possible death of DPRK leader Kim Jong-un have triggered a new wave of publications. The British tabloid The Sun, citing social media, wrote about an allegedly occurred brain hemorrhage of the North Korean leader, claiming that he fell into a coma and was urgently taken to China for treatment. No reliable confirmation of this information has appeared.
Opinion of a Koreanist
Candidate of Historical Sciences, professor and Koreanist Andrei Lankov, in a comment to Gazeta.Ru, stated that such reports do not deserve trust: they arise approximately once every two to three years and are subsequently not confirmed. According to him, Kim Jong-un may have certain health problems, but information about a critical condition usually turns out to be greatly exaggerated. 'Based on previous experience, the most sensible thing is not to react to such rumors,' the expert explained. He urged to be especially cautious about sensations from publications with a dubious reputation.
Versions of power transfer
Publications by Western media also put forward assumptions about a possible transfer of power to the sister of the DPRK leader Kim Yo-jong. According to one of the discussed versions, she could temporarily head the country until the coming of age of Kim Jong-un's daughter.
Origin of the rumors and KCNA's reaction
As Life.ru reported, the information about the allegedly occurred hemorrhage was spread by a Chinese dissident living in the USA, Wanjun Xie, who claimed that the North Korean leader died after emergency hospitalization in Beijing. At the same time, according to KCNA, on October 19 Kim Jong-un visited an exhibition in Pyongyang where more than 70 thousand clothing items and over 170 thousand pairs of shoes were presented. Lankov noted that the history of previous rumors gives no grounds to perceive new unconfirmed reports as reliable facts.
