Adding to the rumor mill surrounding Kim Jong Un, a five-minute video made to look like a news report has emerged in North Korea, claiming the country’s leader dropped dead during an inspection, according to a report.
Authorities in the Hermit Kingdom have set up a task force to investigate how the footage made it inside the country, the UK’s Sun reported Wednesday.
The faux news report — which was mocked up to appear like a real one from state broadcaster Korean Central Television — is believed to have made it over the secretive country’s border from China, according to the news outlet.
It claimed Kim, 36, died Saturday and will be replaced by his 32-year-old sister Kim Yo Jong, who has been reported to be his most likely successor – though the despot’s uncle Kim Pyong Il also has emerged as a possibility.
Included in the video are clips from his father Kim Jong Il’s 2011 funeral – as well as screenshots of nonexistent articles about the despot’s alleged death, according to the South Korea-based Daily NK.
The video’s circulation throughout North Korea comes after a viral doctored photograph appeared to show Kim lying in a coffin – an apparent doctored version of an image of his father.
“This video bewildered both ordinary citizens as well as party members and other officials when they first saw it,” one person told The Sun. “After it was flagged as a serious issue, however, nobody has been able to openly discuss the video.”
The task is monitoring everyone who has made international calls or sent text messages, according to the report.
“With the investigation intensifying, anyone who’s been making calls to China for business reasons has been lying low,” the source said.