Photo: Getty
A look at the photo circulating on the Internet.
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Apr 28, 2020
There are currently more questions than answers about the health of Kim Jong Un, and while the rumor mill is certainly in overdrive about his health — and yes, even about his death — a new photo has emerged on the blog-osphere purporting to show the North Korean dictator lying dead in his casket.
Naturally, this only further fueled speculation about his health, and led some people to believe that Kim Jon Un had, indeed, died.
But is the Kim Jong Un death photo real?
Let's look at what we know about it and about the health and death rumors surrounding the North Korean dictator.
The image purports to show a photo of Kim Jong Un lying dead in a casket.
A photo that started circulating on the Internet today appears to show Kim Jong Un lying dead in a casket and encased in glass. The United States and China are still desperately trying to search for confirmed — in either direction — answers about Kim Jong Un's health, but both have been unsuccessful so far. As it stands, there's no official confirmation from U.S. intelligence of the White House that Kim Jong Un is dead, so death rumors are just that at this point: rumors.
In actuality, the Kim Jong Un death photo is a Photoshopped picture.
While it's unclear how the photo was determined to be a fake, experts believe that the photo of Kim Jong Un lying dead in a casket is actually a Photoshopped picture. The real picture is from 2011, and was from the funeral of Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il.
The photo is thought to be from a Japanese news source, but its true origins are unclear.
According to some published reports, the origins of the fake Kim Jong Un death photo are from a Japanese news source. However, it's unclear if, indeed, the Japanese media was the first to report on this photo, or if it's merely just a fake photo circulating on the Internet from an anonymous group.
A similar fake photo of Kim Jong Un lying dead in a casket appeared on Twitter in 2017.
Reportedly, this isn't the first time that a photo of Kim Jong Un lying dead in a casket has appeared on social media. A similar photo has reportedly appeared on Twitter back in 2017, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of the photo's existence today, so it's entirely possible that the photo was "scrubbed" from the Internet.
Kim Jong Un's lack of public appearances has led to speculation about his health.
Speculation about Kim Jong Un's health continues to grow in the wake of his lack of public appearances. The last confirmed report that the United States had about Kim Jong Un's health was that he was undergoing heart surgery — but there's some question as to the effectiveness of the heart surgery, as reports also suggest that the surgery was "botched."
It's unclear, at this point, whether Kim Jong Un is dead or alive.
While there is some speculation as to whether Kim Jong Un is dead or alive, there are no confirmed reports either way in the Western media. And that is allegedly by design, since North Korea is considered a "closed country" and is thus hesitant to share its information with countries they consider "hostile," like the United States. However, we will keep you posted on any developments.
But that hasn't stopped Donald Trump from claiming he knows what happened to Kim Jong Un.
In a recent press conference, Donald Trump claimed that he knows exactly how Kim Jong Un is doing, then suggested that the rest of the world would find out "in the not-too-distant future." Later on in the press conference, he contradicted himself again: first, he said that he "couldn't say exactly" what happened to the North Korean dictator, then said that he had a "very good idea" about it. "But I can't talk about it now. I just wish him well," he concluded.
Well. Alright then.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.