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North Korea has released a fresh batch of apparent “proof of life” photos showing Kim Jong Un inspecting shoes and women’s clothing — after wild rumors swept social media claiming the dictator had died from a brain hemorrhage.
The images, published by North Korean state media on Monday, show a seemingly animated Kim examining children’s footwear, gesturing toward officials and inspecting women’s coats at a garment and footwear exhibition.
The photos surfaced just hours after sensational claims circulated online that the 42-year-old leader had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, fallen into a coma and died after being rushed to Beijing for emergency treatment.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim toured the exhibition on Monday, although the photographs have not been independently authenticated and it remains unclear exactly when they were taken.
In one image, Kim bends forward to inspect a tiny pink shoe held by a young woman wearing a pale pink, double-breasted dress.
Another shows the North Korean strongman standing with his legs apart, his arms outstretched and his mouth open as he appears to speak emphatically with an official.
A third captures Kim reaching toward the sleeve of a rust-colored women’s coat displayed on a mannequin, while several aides trail behind him.
The apparent public appearance comes after Wanjun Xie, a US-based Chinese dissident associated with the China Democracy Party, posted a series of explosive allegations on X on Sunday.
Xie initially claimed that Kim had died and that China had dispatched 9,000 troops to Pyongyang amid fears of a succession crisis.
He subsequently alleged that a team of specialists from Beijing’s Peking Union Medical College Hospital had been sent to North Korea on Saturday to treat Kim following a severe cerebral hemorrhage.
According to Xie’s unsubstantiated account, the North Korean leader slipped 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.
— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) October 19, 2026NEW: Kim Jong Un on Monday "looked round the venue of the garment and footwear exhibition of the field of light industry," DPRK state media said.
The photo-report came after rumors emerging on social media suggested he had died yesterday.https://t.co/rAZQMp2Uk6 pic.twitter.com/hmjRn06KX5
None of the allegations were accompanied by medical records, photographs, identifiable witnesses or other independently verifiable evidence.
The claims nevertheless gained traction across so cial media and were picked up by several international outlets, including The Sun, which characterized the story as 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 the death reports.
Kim’s health has long been a subject of international scrutiny.
On Sept. 30, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that Kim weighed roughly 140 kilograms — about 309 pounds — and faced an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease because of his severe obesity.
Nevertheless, the spy agency said it had detected no significant signs of ill health, reportedly citing Kim’s ability to run up stairs during an inspection of a naval destroyer.
Rumors 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 stabilizing her regime. In preparation…
— Wanjun Xie (@xie_wanjun) October 18, 2026
North Korean state media previously reported that Kim attended the inauguration of the National Defense Revolution Museum on Oct. 11, with an account of the ceremony published two days later.
That appearance preceded the alleged medical emergency and therefore could not refute claims that his condition had suddenly deteriorated.
It is said that On October 17, Peking Union Medical College Hospital dispatched a team of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular medical experts to North Korea to participate in the rescue of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who was in critical condition.
— Wanjun Xie (@xie_wanjun) October 18, 2026
The latest death scare also echoes a notorious false alarm in 2020, when Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector who became a South Korean lawmaker, claimed he was 99% certain Kim had died following cardiovascular surgery.
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. Although a team of medical experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital was dispatched to…
— Wanjun Xie (@xie_wanjun) October 18, 2026
Kim subsequently appeared in public, and Ji apologized for spreading the erroneous claim.
That six-year-old prediction resurfaced during the latest frenzy, with some online accounts presenting it as fresh evidence that the North Korean leader had died.
The Post has sought comment from the governments of North Korea and China as well as from Peking Union Medical College Hospital.