{"id":33908,"date":"2026-10-20T13:23:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=33908"},"modified":"2026-10-20T13:23:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:23:55","slug":"kim-jong-un-photos-after-death-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/kim-jong-un-photos-after-death-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Jong-un appeared in a KCNA photo following rumours of his death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">On 20 October, the state news agency KCNA published photographs of Kim Jong-un at a clothing and footwear exhibition in Pyongyang, which, according to the agency, he had visited the previous day. The publication followed unverified reports on social media alleging the death of the North Korean leader. South Korean officials have received no information to corroborate these claims, though it is impossible to independently verify the date the photographs were taken.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<p><strong>Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>KCNA has released footage of Kim Jong-un at an exhibition in Pyongyang.<\/li>\n<li>Social media platforms were circulating claims that the leader had suffered a haemorrhage, was in a coma and had died.<\/li>\n<li>South Korean officials have no evidence to support these claims.<\/li>\n<li>At the exhibition, Kim was accompanied by his wife, daughter and officials.<\/li>\n<li>Independent journalists were unable to verify the circumstances and the time the footage was filmed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>What the DPRK\u2019s state media showed<\/h2>\n<p>In the published photographs<strong> Kim Jong-un<\/strong> He was looking at children\u2019s shoes, women\u2019s coats and other goods from local manufacturers. His wife was with him <strong>Lee Sol-ju<\/strong>, daughter <strong>Kim Ju-ae<\/strong> and senior officials.<\/p>\n<p>According to Yonhap, the exhibition featured over 70,700 items of clothing and more than 170,000 pairs of shoes. State media reported that the leader spoke positively about the development of manufacturing and called for improvements in the quality of local products.<\/p>\n<p>Yonhap also reported that the goods came from more than 270 clothing, footwear and related manufacturers. <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/kndr-raketni-pusky-muzey-zbroyi\/\">KCNA<\/a> linked the exhibition to regional industrial policy and competition between central and regional manufacturers; this is the stance taken by the state media <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/politics\/seul-vibachennya-polonenni-kndr\/\">DPRK<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>How did the unverified claims of death arise?<\/h2>\n<p>Rumours were circulating widely on social media on 18\u201319 October. The posts claimed that <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/kim-chen-in-yadernyj-arsenal\/\">Kim Jong-un<\/a> He reportedly suffered a brain haemorrhage, fell into a coma and was taken to Beijing for treatment.<\/p>\n<p>According to Yonhap, one of the sources behind these claims was a Chinese dissident <strong>Xie Wanjun<\/strong>, who lives in the US. He claimed that the North Korean leader had died after being hospitalised, and that his body had been secretly returned to the country. No verified evidence to support these claims has been made public.<\/p>\n<p>South Korean diplomatic and security officials told Yonhap that they had no information to corroborate these reports. Pyongyang has not directly commented on the claims regarding the leader\u2019s death or hospitalisation.<\/p>\n<h2>What can be deduced from the published footage<\/h2>\n<p>The photographs marked the first noticeable response by the state media to the media frenzy surrounding Kim\u2019s health. In them, he is seen talking to those present and inspecting the goods on display, but independent journalists were not allowed to attend the event. It is therefore impossible to independently verify the time the photographs were taken, the circumstances surrounding them, or the leader\u2019s state of health based on these images.<\/p>\n<p>A similar situation arose in 2020, when Kim Jong-un\u2019s prolonged absence from public view led to reports of serious illness and death. He subsequently appeared at a state event. The DPRK\u2019s secrecy regarding the health of its leadership continues to limit independent verification of such reports.<\/p>\n<p>As of 20 October, North Korean state media had reported Kim\u2019s attendance at the exhibition, whilst South Korean officials had no information to corroborate the rumours. There has been no independent verification of the footage released by KCNA.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KCNA published new photos of Kim Jong-un following rumours of his death. It is impossible to independently verify the date the photos were taken or his state of health.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":207433355,"featured_media":33907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u041d\u043e\u0432\u0456 \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e \u041a\u0456\u043c \u0427\u0435\u043d \u0418\u043d\u0430 KCNA \u043e\u043f\u0443\u0431\u043b\u0456\u043a\u0443\u0432\u0430\u043b\u043e \u043f\u0456\u0441\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0443\u0442\u043e\u043a \u043f\u0440\u043e \u0441\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0442\u044c. \u041d\u0435\u0437\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0436\u043d\u043e \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0456\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0438 \u0434\u0430\u0442\u0443 \u0437\u0439\u043e\u043c\u043a\u0438 \u0442\u0430 \u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d \u0439\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0437\u0434\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432\u2019\u044f \u043d\u0435\u043c\u043e\u0436\u043b\u0438\u0432\u043e.","rank_math_title":"\u0421\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0442\u044c \u041a\u0456\u043c \u0427\u0435\u043d \u0418\u043d\u0430 \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u0456\u0434\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0434\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0430: \u043d\u043e\u0432\u0456 \u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e KCNA","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u041a\u0456\u043c \u0427\u0435\u043d \u0418\u043d","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805619],"tags":[805624],"class_list":["post-33908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-805624"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33908"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33910,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33908\/revisions\/33910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}