North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly fallen into a coma following a cerebral haemorrhage and has been transferred to China for emergency medical treatment, according to claims published by British newspaper The Sun.
Citing unnamed sources, the publication reported that Kim was urgently transported from North Korea to Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing.
According to the report, the decision to transfer him abroad was prompted by concerns over the availability and quality of medical equipment in Pyongyang.
"He was taken out of the country because of the poor condition of the medical equipment in Pyongyang. ... Kim was taken to Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, where he received urgent medical assistance," the newspaper quoted its sources as saying.
The claims have not been independently verified, and there has been no official confirmation from North Korean or Chinese authorities regarding Kim's reported condition or hospitalisation.
According to the publication, Kim was last seen publicly on October 11 during a visit to a defence museum at an undisclosed location in Pyongyang.
North Korea analyst Benedict Rogers told The Sun that rumours about Kim's death had circulated previously, cautioning that there had been no public signs of the kind of official mourning associated with the deaths of previous North Korean leaders.
"Rumors of his death had circulated before. He does not appear to be a healthy person; he is extremely overweight. ... In the past, when the supreme leader died, there was an organized outpouring of public grief. ... People wailed and cried in the streets. News anchors spoke very emotionally. ... We have not seen anything like that yet. Either that will happen, or, if he is still alive, they will publish some evidence that he is still alive," Rogers said.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service has previously raised concerns about Kim's health, estimating his weight at more than 140 kilograms and his height at approximately 170 centimetres.
The agency has suggested that his weight could increase his risk of cardiovascular problems.
Kim's father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, also reportedly experienced weight-related health issues and were known to smoke heavily.
Separately, Bloomberg previously reported that North Korea generated as much as $22 billion in foreign income between 2022 and 2025, approximately four times the amount recorded during the preceding period.
According to that report, the increase was partly linked to North Korea's provision of weapons and military personnel to Russia.
For now, the reports concerning Kim Jong Un's alleged coma and emergency treatment in China remain unconfirmed.