North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has not appeared in public for seven days, prompting unverified social media reports that he was rushed to a Chinese hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage. He was last seen touring a defence museum in Pyongyang on October 11.
What the unverified reports claim
Posts on X suggested Kim was taken out of North Korea because of the poor medical facilities in Pyongyang. Wanjun Xie, chairman of the China Democracy Party, was among those discussing the claims.
He wrote: "It is rumoured that recently, Kim Jong-Un ... suffered a severe cerebral haemorrhage 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 went further, suggesting the dictator had "succumbed to his injuries and died ... due to the severity of his condition". Another user added: "His body is currently being secretly transported back to North Korea without public announcement."
Previous death rumours and health reports
It is not the first time Kim has been the subject of death rumours, with similar speculation arising in 2020 after he failed to appear in public for several months.
The recent rumours follow reports that he is "extremely obese", weighing more than 140kg and putting him at serious risk of cardiovascular disease, according to South Korea's National Intelligence service.
Who would take over
In the event of Kim's death, it is thought his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, 38, would take the reins of the nuclear-armed regime. She has attracted international 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". She also labelled former US president Joe Biden an "old man with no future" after he increased American support for South Korea in 2023.
Kim's sister would reportedly take control for an interim period until his daughter, 13-year-old Kim Ju-ae, is old enough to succeed him. The teenager has accompanied her father on a number of high-profile outings, including a state visit to China last year.
A source told The Sun she could oversee an even more formidable regime than her father. They said: "When we think about her upbringing and training to be a core North Korean elite, then we know from her father and grandfather that she will be playing the bloodsport of politics. That will require her to cashier disloyal aides through violent means. It's a job requirement for the leader."
Kim's reign is known for its brutal political purges and executions, ordering the deaths of hundreds of government and military officials to consolidate power, including his uncle, Chang Song-thaek in 2013. Agents also assassinated his half-brother Kim Jong Nam using a toxic nerve agent in Malaysia in 2017, and public executions, often by firing squad, are a common occurrence.
