North Korea has unveiled a new photo of leader Kim Jong-un at a garment and footwear show after rumors of his death from a brain haemorrhage or an it’s-overt coma on unverifiable social media have swept its capital. The photos are, hours after they spread on the Internet, published by the government’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
The accusation was from the people behind the anti-Chinese Communist Party protests, with no documented evidence in the public domain to support assertions that the 42-year-old leader of North Korea is dying, or is ferried to a hospital in Beijing, China.
The fresh photos revealed Kim checking products and touching the officials/participants. One picture depicted him leaning over to view a small pink shoe being held by a woman with a light pink gown.
In another picture Kim was standing with his arms extended, his mouth gaped open and is talking with an official. A third shot saw him grasp a sleeve of a rust-colored women’s coat, which was hanging on a mannequin, while a number of aides trailed him.
The pictures released proved to be of Kim, rebutting false reports on social media. The photographs help to tell the tale, but don’t necessarily prove the time of the photographs, or even all of the details of his alleged activities independently.
The rumours stemmed from a string of posts on X from Chinese dissident Wanjun Xie, who is based in the United States. According to Xie, he had made claims regarding Kim’s health, but without substantiating evidence from among credible sources provided.
Kim tends to make precipitous visits to public events, and the images of what is happening in North Korea under its new-age monarchy and dictatorship are closely monitored. Previous reports about the health of the leader have garnered major national and global interest, as accurate reports have been hard to come by from the country.
The new photos are supposedly meant to show Kim at a show, but the word on an alleged doctors’ pronouncement of his death and medical emergency remain suspect.