North Korea has released a new series of apparent “proof of life” photos showing Kim Jong Un inspecting women’s shoes and clothing – after wild rumors swept social media that the dictator had died of a brain hemorrhage.
The footage, released Monday by North Korean state media, shows a seemingly animated Kim examining children’s shoes, gesturing toward officials and inspecting women’s coats at a clothing and shoe exhibition.
The photos surfaced just hours after sensational claims emerged online that the 42-year-old leader suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, fell into a coma and died after being rushed to Beijing for emergency treatment.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim visited the exhibition on Monday, although the photographs have not been independently authenticated and it is unclear when they were taken.
In one image, Kim leans forward to inspect a small pink shoe held by a young woman in a double-breasted pale pink dress.
Another shows the North Korean strongman standing with his legs apart, arms outstretched and mouth open as he appears to speak insistently to an official.
A third shows Kim reaching for the sleeve of a rust-colored women’s coat displayed on a mannequin, while several assistants follow him.
The apparent public appearance comes after Wanjun Xie, a US-based Chinese dissident associated with the Chinese Democracy Party, published a series of explosive allegations about X on Sunday.
Xie initially claimed that Kim was dead and that China had sent 9,000 troops to Pyongyang, fearing a succession crisis.
He then said a team of specialists from Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing had been sent to North Korea on Saturday to treat Kim following a serious brain hemorrhage.
According to Xie’s uncorroborated account, the North Korean leader fell into a coma before being transferred to Beijing, where doctors were unable to save him.
His body was then secretly returned to North Korea, Xie claimed.
None of the allegations were supported by medical records, photographs, identifiable witnesses, or other independently verifiable evidence.
These claims nonetheless gained traction on social media and were picked up by several international media outlets, including The Sun, which called the story unverified speculation.
The rumors also raised questions about whether Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, had taken control of the secretive regime.
The latest photographs, however, appear intended to dispel speculation about the North Korean leader’s fate, although Pyongyang has not explicitly addressed reports of the death.
Kim’s health has long been the subject of international scrutiny.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers on Sept. 30 that Kim weighed about 140 kilograms — about 309 pounds — and was at high risk of cardiovascular disease due to his severe obesity.
Nonetheless, the intelligence agency said it detected no significant signs of poor health, apparently citing Kim’s ability to run up stairs during an inspection of a naval destroyer.
North Korean state media previously reported that Kim attended the inauguration of the National Defense Revolution Museum on October 11, with an account of the ceremony published two days later.
This appearance preceded the alleged medical emergency and could therefore not refute the allegations that his condition had suddenly deteriorated.
The latest death scare also echoes a notorious false alarm from 2020, when Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector turned South Korean lawmaker, claimed he was 99% certain that Kim had died following cardiovascular surgery.
Kim later appeared in public and Ji apologized for spreading the erroneous claim.
The six-year-old prediction resurfaced during the latest frenzy, with some online accounts touting it as further evidence of the North Korean leader’s death.
The Post sought comment from the governments of North Korea and China, as well as Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
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