Is Kim Jong Un Dead? Assassination Rumors Hit the Internet

By jozjozjoz | Friday, February 10, 2012 | 3 Comments

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The rumored death of Kim Jong Un is taking China’s biggest microblogging service Weibo– and now Twitter– by storm. With headlines and captions asking questions like “Did Twitter Assassinate Kim Jong-Un?” by Gawker, everyone wants to know if there is any truth behind the purported North Korean Leader’s Assassination.

Unfortunately, North Korea is not known for being forthcoming with news. So, just two months after becoming the country’s supreme leader after the death of his father, the rumor mill is on overload about Kim Jong Un’s reported demise at 28. Between speculation that he was assassinated in Beijing or that he’s on the run (but not dead), most of the claims imply that some sort of coup is taking place. Reports about the rumors are being picked up by various mainstream news sources such as Forbes, Gawker, National Post, and more. Everyone is trying to figure out if anything actually happened or if this is the biggest social media death hoax since Jon Bon Jovi’s.

If you live in China, Gawker is asking for help to confirm this story. And if you can confirm if Kim Jong Un is dead, let us know, too.

Photo credit: Gawker screenshot

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dcj125

Why does Gawker seem to think that random Chinese citizens would know what’s going on in North Korea? Seems kind of ignorant.
http://www.8Asians.com/ jozjozjoz

@dcj125 The rumor was that Kim Jong Un was killed in Beijing. (+ it’s not like they can ask North Korean netizens for info.)
http://www.8Asians.com/ jozjozjoz

As an update, there doesn’t seem to be any credible evidence that Kim Jong Un is dead.

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/10/world/asia/north-korea-leader-rumors/index.html

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