Seoul, October 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has dismissed recent social media rumours claiming that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has died, telling a parliamentary committee that the unverified reports were false, according to sources familiar with the briefing.
The assessment was presented during a closed-door meeting with ruling and opposition lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, the sources said.
The rumours, which circulated widely on overseas social media earlier this week, claimed that Kim had suffered a severe brain haemorrhage, fallen into a coma and died. Several foreign media outlets also picked up the speculation, but no evidence has been presented to substantiate the claims, Yonhap News Agency reported.
North Korean state media have not directly addressed the rumours. However, they reported on Tuesday that Kim had visited a garment and footwear exhibition in Pyongyang a day earlier. Photographs released by state media showed him touring the exhibition alongside his daughter, Ju-ae.
During a briefing to the parliamentary committee late last month, the NIS said Kim, who weighs more than 140 kilograms, faced a high risk of cardiovascular disease because of severe obesity. However, the agency reported no notable signs of health problems at the time.
The NIS cited his ability to move without difficulty, including running up stairs during an inspection of a destroyer, as well as the close monitoring of his health by dedicated medical staff.
Friday’s briefing also covered an inspection of a fortification construction site along North Korea’s southern border by Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader’s sister and a senior official of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. She was accompanied by Pak Jong-chon, an adviser to the North’s defence ministry, according to participants in the meeting.
North Korea has intensified efforts to fortify its border with South Korea since April 2024, following Kim Jong-un’s description of inter-Korean relations as those between “two states hostile to each other.”
Kim Yo-jong has threatened to resume propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts targeting South Korea within days and warned of a “horrible and distressing situation” amid tensions surrounding the border fortification work.
The NIS is scheduled to face a parliamentary audit by the committee on Thursday, when lawmakers are expected to examine developments in North Korea and other national security issues.
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