In the past few hours, Twitter has exploded with unsubstantiated rumors that the new North Korean dictator died in Beijing today and that a coup is underway in North Korea. So far there is no indication at all that these rumors are true. The rumors originated on China’s twitter-like platform Weibo (fyi: here’s the fascinating Google translated page of original Weibo posts), and quickly got picked up by Gawker.com and retweeted in the U.S.
As the story goes, a couple assassins barged into Kim’s room in Beijing and shot him, before being shot and killed themselves by bodyguards. Twitter user @ChristianJMay posted that the rumor is “based on news that a host of blacked out cars have descended upon embassy in Beijing, where he was visiting.” Nevermind that as far as anyone can tell, Kim wasn’t even in Beijing.
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UPDATE - Kim Jong-un assassination rumours sparked by Beijing embassy birthday party
Kim Jong-il’s 70th birthday is cause for celebration at the North Korean embassy in Beijing, so much so that building is now abuzz with activity for the multi-day festivities.
Now, along with the planned events, embassy staff can now mark worldwide social-media fuelled assassination rumours down as one of the many tributes for the late Dear Leader.