Rumors swirled Saturday that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has died or is near death following heart surgery, with multiple news outlets citing sources from Japan and China.
A vice director of HKSTV Hong Kong Satellite Television, a Beijing-backed network in Hong Kong, claimed Kim was dead, citing a "very solid source," and posting the information on the Chinese messaging app Weibo that made the social medial rounds, International Business Times reported.
Other unconfirmed reports attributed to communist party sources in Beijing that an operation to insert a stent went wrong because the surgeon's hands were shaking so badly, the fact-checking site, Snopes reported. The North Korean Supreme Leader is in a "vegetative state" after the surgery earlier this month, a Japanese magazine reported, according to Snopes.
According to Reuters, the weekly Shukan Gendai reported a Chinese medic sent to North Korea as part of a team to treat Kim believed a delay in a simple procedure left the leader severely ill. Yet, a South Korean source told the news agency Kim was alive and likely to make an appearance soon.
Seoul-based website Daily NK, citing one unnamed source in North Korea, earlier reported Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure April 12, but South Korean officials insisted they had detected no signs of unusual activity.
Saturday marks a major military anniversary in North Korea, where they celebrate the founding of the Korean People's Army in 1932 — something they hype annually with a parade, and one in which Kim might normally make an appearance, TMZ noted.
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