As Kim Jong Un Death Rumors Spread... "It's Not Loading Again": North Korean State Media Sites Face Outages

As rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's death spread on overseas social media, major North Korean websites, including those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korean Central News Agency, have experienced access problems for a second consecutive day.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks at a pair of pink children's sneakers held up by his daughter, Ju Ae, during a visit to the "National Clothing and Shoes Exhibition 2026" on the 19th. [Chosun Central Television screen] Yonhap News Agency

On October 21, Reuters and other news outlets reported that websites including those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun, which use North Korea's country-code top-level domain "kp," were inaccessible or had unstable connections. The previous day, more than 40 major websites also experienced outages for about eight hours, from around 11 a.m. to around 7 p.m. Access was subsequently restored, but some outages recurred on October 21.

Telecom Observer, a website specializing in monitoring telecommunications networks, observed instability in North Korea's internet routing system the previous day.

Outage screen on the website of North Korea's Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap News Agency

The outage coincided with the spread overseas of rumors that Chairman Kim had collapsed from a brain hemorrhage, been urgently transferred to China and died, prompting various speculation. However, no connection has been confirmed between the cause of the access problems and the death rumors.

The rumors of Chairman Kim's death spread through a social media post by Xie Wanjun, a Chinese dissident living in the United States. He claimed that Chairman Kim had collapsed from a brain hemorrhage, been transferred to China and died. However, he provided no concrete evidence to support the claim.

In contrast, North Korean state media reported the previous day that Chairman Kim had visited the National Clothing and Footwear Exhibition-2026, held in Pyongyang on October 19, with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter, Ju Ae, and released photos and videos. They made no direct mention of the death rumors.

Rumors of Chairman Kim's death also emerged in 2020. In April that year, his absence from events marking Kim Il Sung's birthday fueled rumors that he had undergone surgery or died. However, images released on May 1 showed him attending the completion ceremony for the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory, revealing that the death rumors were false.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.