Is North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un Dead?

Описание: This video discusses the recent rumors about the death of Kim Jong Un. A few days ago, on April 20, a South Korean website run by North Korean defectors announced that Kim Jong Un was in grave danger after cardio-vascular surgery. A few days later, CNN also published similar story. The trigger was that he missed an April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Experts say that the CNN story is what turned a small rumor into a global obsession. Then yesterday reputed outlets like MSN and Newsweek announced that a team of Chinese doctors have been sent by Beijing to help with the treatment of Kim Jong Un.

One Korean looking lady on YouTube even said in her YouTube video that she definitely knows that Kim Jong Un is dead. But she cited no source for her story. It is possible that she is linked to South Korean intelligence or that she is just making this announcement to get hits on YouTube. She has succeeded in getting millions of views already in a few days.

Rumor about his death could very well be true. But Kim has disappeared for weeks before, only to show up in public as if nothing had happened. The coronavirus has also impacted the country, and the dictator may be taking precautions to avoid infection. Plus, North Korea’s culture of secrecy means rumors can run rampant regardless of how farfetched they may be.
But Kim is known to be in poor health; he’s obese, he’s a cigarette smoker, and he’s believed to have severe gout.

Rumors about Ki Jong Un’s death are nothing new. A few years ago, a self-proclaimed North Korea expert said that Kim Jong Il died from diabetes in 2003 and that a double was running the country. (Kim Jong Il actually died in 2011.) A few years ago the international news media speculated that Kim Jong Un probably died because he did not appear in public for many days. Then he appeared but was walking with a limp.

The question is why do news media spread rumors about the death of leaders like Kim Jong Un. Many times the news outlets get such stories from their contacts in the intelligence who have two aims in floating such stories. One is to test the target. Kim Jong Un is being tested all the time. It is not an easy task for a young man to lead a nuclear armed nation. He must be always worried that some of his political enemies within the country with the help of North Korean enemies abroad may be planning to overthrow him. And North Korea has managed to make enemy of the United States, the most powerful nation on earth. We know that Kim Jong Un has the support of China but North Korea is not a vassal state. Beijing would like North Korea to destroy their nuclear arsenal and their ICBM and come under the nuclear umbrella of China just as Canada enjoys the nuclear umbrella provided by USA.

Kim Jong Un is very much like Fidel Castro who was regularly rumored to be dead. It became a featured meme. James Cason served as head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana between 2002 and 2005 and once said that Castro “must have died 20 times since the time I went to Cuba.”
Sensational rumors are started and popularly circulated for many reasons. Self-started rumors, for example, are often launched for publicity purposes, as with Morton Downey Jr. or Jussie Smollett.

Now lets talk about Kim Jong Un. Why on Earth would this rumor start?
Unlike rumors spread for self-promotion, those spread by others can be weaponized, meant to weaken a target or to test an adversary’s resilience and reactions. Kim’s leadership and hold on power are constantly being tested. This rumor-mongering may just be the latest installment.
It could be an attempt by the West — or Beijing — to smoke out Kim just to see where he is and if he’s willing to come forth and dispel the rumor. This allows adversaries the ability to calculate if and how he responds to foreign pressures. Does he remain out of the public eye? Or does he order and preside over a missile test launch? Each type of response gives the world a clue both to his personality and his grip on power.

This rumor also provides grist for any surviving and well-hidden North Korean opposition to step up and act. Credible rumors of a weakened or dead leader provide pretext and cover for any potential Pyongyang political factions or military leaders to consider a coup d’etat.

U.S. intelligence agencies and defense personnel look for troop movements, changed postures, heightened defense preparedness, broadcast messaging, chatter within diplomatic channels, runs on goods and altered daily worker patterns.

Authoritarian states may be uniquely susceptible to weaponized rumors, but thanks to Facebook and YouTube, even developed and democratic countries with free and independent media are also vulnerable.