Kim Jong-un appears at military event, shrugging off death rumors

Death rumors first surfaced on overseas social media Tuesday

Picked up by British, US tabloids before spreading widely

North Korean state media showed Kim at clothing exhibition Friday

National Intelligence Service told Assembly the rumors were false

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over the Third Company Commanders' Conference of the Korean People's Army in Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday, delivering a speech on "building a powerful military in the new era and the mission of company commanders," KCNA reported Saturday. [Yonhap]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un applauds with participants at the Third Company Commanders' Conference of the Korean People's Army, held in Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday. [Yonhap]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made a public appearance, shrugging off death rumors that had circulated on social media at home and abroad. Kim presided over a large-scale military event on Friday.

According to KCNA, Kim led the Third Company Commanders' Conference of the Korean People's Army on Thursday and Friday.

KCNA reported that Kim delivered a speech titled "Building a powerful military in the new era and the mission of company commanders," in which he laid out "combat tasks and measures to be firmly grasped as key links in the work of strengthening companies — the basic cells of military buildup."

"The overall direction of strengthening companies is to transform their combat power and appearance in a manner befitting the status and prestige of the most elite revolutionary armed forces," Kim said.

He added that "all companies across the entire military must be ideologically and spiritually purified without exception, powerfully honed in military and technical terms, and forged into a flawless combat force with impeccable discipline."

"The core spirit of the Third Company Commanders' Conference is to build the strongest military by cultivating the strongest companies and to accelerate the military revolution in our own way," he said.

The death rumors originated on overseas social media before spreading domestically and internationally without any credible basis. Kim's appearance at the event effectively dispelled the speculation.

The conference was attended by Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Korean Workers' Party Central Military Commission; Kim Song-gi, minister of national defense; Yu Gwang-u, first deputy director of the General Political Bureau; and Ri Yong-gil, chief of the General Staff.

Companies are considered the basic combat unit of the North Korean military and the hub of soldiers' daily life. North Korean state media had previously reported company commanders' conferences in November 1991 and February 1999, but coverage of top leadership attending such a gathering is considered unusual.

KCNA said the conference doubled the momentum for "the struggle to forge the most elite combat ranks — all-capable, multi-branch companies that can independently and smoothly carry out any combat mission."

Following Kim's speech, participants watched a video of Defense Minister Kim Song-gi's report and accounts of frontline experience from company commanders, and model company commanders were commended.

The death rumors began on Tuesday on the social media account of a Chinese dissident based in the United States, before being picked up by British and American tabloids. The Sun, a British tabloid, and the New York Post reported Tuesday that Kim had been rushed to a hospital in Beijing after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage — citing unverified social media posts.

The outlets identified the source of the rumors as Xie Wanjun, also known as Sa Man-gun, described as a Chinese dissident in the United States, who posted the claims on X, formerly Twitter.

Xie wrote on X that Kim had suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage the previous day.

He added that Kim had been urgently transported to a hospital in Beijing due to poor medical conditions in North Korea, and that rumors of his death were circulating.

The claims spread further on social media, with unsubstantiated reports alleging that following Kim's death, his sister Kim Yo-jong — not his daughter Ju-ae — had taken power, and that the Chinese Communist Party had dispatched a military unit of around 9,000 troops to Pyongyang to support Ju-ae's succession.

Xie, who claims to chair the China Democracy Party — an organization banned in China — has a history of posting false claims on social media, including rumors about the death of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

North Korean state media moved to counter the rumors on Tuesday, reporting that Kim had toured the "National Clothing and Footwear Exhibition 2026" in Pyongyang on Monday.

The reports included photographs of Kim browsing the exhibition alongside his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter Ju-ae, with the family seen examining items including women's coats and children's shoes.

Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service told the National Assembly's intelligence committee on Friday that the rumors of Kim Jong-un's death were false.

According to attendees, the NIS delivered the assessment in a closed-door briefing to ruling and opposition party lawmakers on the intelligence committee.

At a separate intelligence committee briefing on Sept. 30, the NIS had reported that Kim was in a high-risk group for cardiovascular disease due to severe obesity — weighing in the 140-kilogram range — but showed no particular signs of health problems, noting that he had been seen running up stairs during an inspection of a destroyer.

The NIS also briefed lawmakers on Tuesday's visit by Kim Yo-jong, director of the Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, and Pak Jong-chon, an adviser to the Ministry of National Defense, to a "southern border fortification" site along the front line.

Regarding the visit, the NIS assessed that it was difficult to conclude Kim Yo-jong's standing had changed.

soohan@heraldcorp.com