Global Alert as North Korean State Media Outlets Go Down Following 'Death Rumors'

Major North Korean state media websites, including the Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency, are experiencing connection outages.

Attention is focused on what is happening to North Korea's internet network, especially as unverified rumors recently spread overseas that State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un had died.

According to the Ministry of Unification and other sources, the websites of the Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency have been inaccessible since the evening of the 20th.

The outage was not limited to those two media outlets.

Some 40 other websites using North Korea's national domain ".kp," including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minju Choson, and Naenara, also experienced connection failures or unstable links.

The exact cause has not yet been confirmed.

While some raise the possibility of a large-scale external cyberattack, it remains unknown whether an actual hacking attack took place.

This connection outage occurred immediately after rumors regarding Chairman Kim's health issues spread overseas.

Previously, outlets such as the New York Post in the United States and The Sun in the United Kingdom reported online rumors claiming that Chairman Kim had collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage and was rushed to a hospital in Beijing, China.

Some even claimed that Chairman Kim had already died, but no objective evidence was presented to support this.

On the 20th, North Korea released several photos stating that Chairman Kim had visited a clothing and footwear exhibition the previous day accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter, Kim Ju-ae.

The photos also showed Chairman Kim examining children's shoes and giving instructions to accompanying officials.

However, connection outages on North Korean state media websites occurred right after these reports were released.

This is not the first time North Korea's state media internet network has been paralyzed.

In March 2013, the websites of the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun also suffered connection outages due to cyberattacks.

In late 2014, following hacking controversies surrounding the U.S. movie The Interview, which depicted the assassination of Chairman Kim, North Korea's entire internet network was paralyzed for several days.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Kim Kihyun | Design by Lee Sumin | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.