Rumours that Kim Jong-un had died after suffering a brain haemorrhage spread widely online over the past seven days, but the images and video used to support the claims have been shown to be false. The hospital pictures were created using Artificial Intelligence, and the newsreader clip actually dates from 2011 and announced the death of Kim's father, Kim Jong-il.
How the rumours began
The speculation was started when a Chinese politician said medics had been “dispatched” to treat Kim. Wanjun Xie, who described himself as the Chairman of China Democracy Party (CDP), wrote: "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."
He added that a team of medical experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital was said to have been sent to North Korea, and that Kim was allegedly transferred to the same hospital in Beijing for emergency treatment. Xie further claimed: "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. His body has been secretly transported back to North Korea, and the news of his death is being kept under wraps."
He later wrote: "Rumours circulate that Kim Jong-un has died, thwarting Kim Ju-ae's succession plans and potentially plunging North Korea into civil war. The Chinese Communist Party has reportedly dispatched 9,000 troops to Pyongyang to assist Kim Ju-ae in stabilising her regime." Xie also said the Northern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army had entered a state of high alert (Level III), with leave, family visits and demobilisation/retirement suspended and personnel who had left the area recalled.
Proof-of-life photos and AI images
Speculation around Kim's death became so intense that his administration was forced to issue "proof of life" photos of the leader touring a shopping centre. Despite the rumours being refuted, social media was flooded with pictures of Kim lying unconscious in a hospital bed and a video of a newsreader announcing his death.
The images of the 42-year-old being treated in hospital were created using Artificial Intelligence, and the newsreader was actually announcing the death of Kim's father in a historic clip from 2011.
What the record shows
The claims circulated online for a week before the false elements were identified. The North Korean administration's release of photographs showing Kim visiting a shopping centre was intended to counter the reports that he had died.
