AN UNVERIFIED picture claiming to show Kim Jong-un dead in a glass coffin has gone viral amid ongoing rumours about the North Korean leader’s death.
The image being shared on social media appears to show Kim with his eyes closed, lying on his back beneath a red blanket with his head on a pillow – seemingly lying in state, as is tradition for North Korean leaders.
Speculation states he is either dead, gravely ill, in a vegetative state or alive and riding out the coronavirus-crisis as his private villa in the North Korean resort town of Wonsan.
North Korea today released a letter said to be written by Kim – but no new images of him – as the regime scrambles to show he is still alive.
However, pictures being shared online of Kim dead are believed to be manipulated.
The image – credited to Japanese news network JNN – closely matches with a picture from his dad Kim Jong-il’s funeral in 2011 after he died from a heart attack.
It has the same angle, same pillow and identical flower arrangements behind his head – suggesting the younger Kim’s face and shoulders have been superimposed.
Despite the ticker on the picture reading JNN, many sharing the picture have incorrectly credited it to Hong Kong Satellite Television (HKSTV).
Many posts attached claim the picture was shown live on HKSTV – one of the first outlets to report claims of Kim’s demise – with the image being shared thousands of times online amid the storm of rumours.
Multiple conflicting accounts have been given from sources in the US, South Korea, China and Japan about what has happened to Kim, 36.
Some sources have claimed he underwent a botched heart surgery, others claim he collapsed while walking in the countryside, and one report states he was injured in a missile test.
South Korea have insisted he is “alive and well” amid the speculation.
Pyongyang is notoriously secretive, so it may be unlikely that any information about Kim will be verified until it is announced on North Korea’s carefully controlled state-TV.
Rumours previously ran wild when Kim disappeared for a month in 2014 – only for him to then re-emerge walking with cane, reportedly having suffered a bout of gout.
Kim is reported to be undergoing treatment at a hospital which is reserved for exclusive use by his family and is constantly on standby, reports Daily NK.
The Hyang San hospital was built in 1994 after the death of Kim Il-sung, purposefully set up away from Pyongyang to avoid surveillance.
Doctors there reportedly receive specialist training abroad, and medical equipment is imported from Germany and Japan.
Kim’s personal physician is reportedly an expert in heart diseases and moves with his own security team.
Both Kim’s dad and granddad died of heart attacks.
The North Korea’s leader is known to have poor health, reportedly being a heavy binge-eater, smoker and drinker.
Daily NK reported earlier that Kim underwent heart surgery on April 12 after last being seen in state media reports on April 11.
He was then suspiciously absent from the national birthday celebrations of his late granddad Kim Il-sung, known as the Day of the Sun.
Conflicting reports continue to emerge from various sources, including claims of panic-buying in North Korea and China sending in a medical team amid rumours about his death.
US President Donald Trump has said he believes reports are “incorrect”, but then one of his advisors told Fox News that Kim is most likely dead or incapacitated.
Chinese journalist Shijian Xingzou said a “very solid source” told her the North Korean leader had died.
She has 15 million followers on Chinese social media site Weibo, and she is also the niece of one of the the country’s foreign ministers.
Separately, a Japanese media outlet claimed Kim was in a “vegetative state” after undergoing heart surgery.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in’s foreign policy advisor Chung-in Moon has said they believe Kim has been staying in Wonsan since April 13 – with “no suspicious movements”.
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Pictures released by North Korea watchers 38North show what is believed to be Kim’s private armoured train parked near the resort.
North Korean defectors have also dismissed the ongoing rumours of Kim’s death.
Joo Sung-ha, a defector turned journalist, said in a Facebook post reported by the New York Times it was reasonable to believe Kim had health problems.
However, he wrote he had zero trust in any of the reports as information about Kim’s health is such a closely guarded secret.
It is speculated his sister Kim Yo-jong could be next in line after him if he was to be dead.
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