The release of the footage was designed to stem reports spread by Shia Wangjun, a well-known Chinese dissident living in the United States who heads a political movement outlawed in China. Wangjun claimed that Kim lost consciousness, was rushed in secret for treatment in China, and died there, adding that his body was returned to the country covertly.
Intelligence sources in South Korea were quick to clarify that there is no indication or information confirming the reports. Kim's renewed appearance was not accompanied by an official statement directly addressing the rumours about his medical condition, but it contradicted claims that he had not been seen in public for many days.
The BBC noted that there are additional major reasons to cast serious doubt on the claims of a health collapse by Kim Jong Un. According to the British network's analysis, a dramatic medical event of this magnitude would have left an immediate mark beyond the borders of the isolated state: China, for instance, would likely have tightened security unusually along the border to prepare for instability or refugee flows, and at the same time unusual movement would have been recorded around Pyongyang's diplomatic missions worldwide.
In addition, North Korean defectors living in South Korea, who routinely rely on informal contact networks that bring information from inside the country through the Chinese border, reported that they had received no signal or indication supporting the reports, which did not prevent the rumours from continuing to spread rapidly on social media.
