Marianne Björklund: This is why North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un "dies" so often

Periodically, Kim Jong-Un is claimed to be dead. In 2020, a North Korean defector said he was 99 percent sure he had died. Then he had missed a ceremony commemorating Kim Il-Sung, North Korea's founder and Kim Jong-Un's grandfather.

This week it was time again. Information circulated that an unconscious Kim Jong-Un would have been taken to a hospital in Beijing where he died of a brain hemorrhage. The origin of the rumor was a post on social media by the Chinese dissident Wanjun Xie, who lives in the United States, in which he describes in detail what happened. After that, speculation spread quickly. Especially in social media. But also newspapers such as the British The Sun, the American New York Post and the Indian Economic Times picked up and wrote that the North Korean leader was dead or close to death.

Then North Korea's state news agency published pictures of Kim Jong-Un visiting a clothing and shoe fair in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang with his daughter. Seemingly fresh. Thus, the death speculations were punctured for this time.

But exactly when the pictures were taken cannot be independently verified. And there is probably the explanation for the fact that unconfirmed speculation about North Korea and its leader so often arises. The country is one of the most isolated and secretive in the world. The information that is released to the rest of the world is tightly controlled by the state. Few foreign journalists are allowed to visit North Korea and those who are allowed in are under strict supervision. The secrecy becomes a breeding ground for rumours.

But even if the situation in North Korea is shrouded in information darkness, signs of the leader's death should be felt in other ways. If it had been true that Kim Jong-Un had passed away, China would probably have tightened border controls against North Korea. The country fears a refugee invasion by Koreans. North Korean defectors, who often have underhand contacts, had probably heard something. Even South Korea's intelligence service, which early distanced itself from the latest rumor spread, should have been informed.