North Korea's Kim Jong Un appears at Pyongyang expo after online death rumors
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared at a Pyongyang clothing and footwear exhibition with his 13-year-old daughter.
The photos followed unfounded claims he had died; Seoul called them unverified rumors.
Background
Kim Jong Un has been North Korea's supreme leader since his father Kim Jong Il died in 2011, and Pyongyang tightly controls information about his health, schedule and succession plans. Online claims that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage and died spread in October 2026, prompting state media to publish photographs of him at a Pyongyang clothing and footwear exhibition with his daughter Kim Ju Ae. Such death rumors have recurred for decades around the ruling dynasty, and South Korea's intelligence service says Kim has actually increased public appearances this year.
How it unfolded
- Sep 30, 2026South Korea's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers Kim weighed around 140kg but showed no significant signs of ill health, warning severe obesity raised his cardiovascular risk.
- Oct 11, 2026Kim attended the opening of the National Defence Revolution Museum with his wife Ri Sol Ju and daughter Kim Ju Ae, according to KCNA.
- Oct 19, 2026Kim visited a clothing and footwear exhibition in Pyongyang with his 13-year-old daughter Kim Ju Ae and other officials, state media reported.
- Oct 20, 2026KCNA and Rodong Sinmun published photographs of Kim at the exhibition, after unfounded online claims he had died of a brain hemorrhage or fallen into a coma.
- Oct 22, 2026South Korean officials dismissed the death claims as unsubstantiated, with a Unification Ministry official calling them unverified rumors.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- South Korea's National Intelligence Service assessed that Kim showed no apparent signs of serious health problems, had good mobility and remained under close medical supervision.
- Caution
- North Korea analyst Benedict Rogers said past leaders' deaths brought an orchestrated outpouring of public grief, which he had not seen this time.
- Public
- Wanjun Xie, a US-based Chinese dissident claiming to lead the outlawed Chinese Democratic Party, asserted on X that Kim died after a brain hemorrhage in Beijing and that China sent troops to Pyongyang.
Still unverified
Wanjun Xie claimed Kim suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, was hospitalized in Beijing and died with his body secretly returned to North Korea, and that China sent thousands of troops to Pyongyang; South Korean officials said they had no information substantiating the claims. Reports also speculated Kim Yo Jong could temporarily assume control before transferring power to Kim Ju Ae.