Video and Tweets Claiming Kim Jong-Un’s Death
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Fail Essay
My sister was trying to write an essay about earth's politics and she saw that Kim Jong-Un was dead on Twitter.
"Oh, that's a good topic to write!"
She said.
And she got and F, as it is a fake news.
What happened?
In April 2020, there were sources claiming that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was “in grave danger” and “brain dead”. This news was originated from a South Korea-based website Daily NK and further spread worldwide. Someone even uploaded falsely edited video onto YouTube, depicting local citizens were crying heavily. In fact, the original footage was grieving for the formal Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il in 2011. All these rumours went viral around the globe and everyone was wondering the exact whereabouts of Kim Jong-un. After 20 days, Kim Jong-un appeared to be alive and the rumour gradually vanished.
Why did this fake news become convincing and widely spread?
This news was originated from a South Korea-based website Daily NK. CNN news then reported that Kim Jong-un was in great danger. CNN is a famous worldwide US television network that somehow increases its credibility. Some websites then made a fuss of it, leading to a lot of conjecture about his situation. There was also a journalist from NBC news tweeting that Kim Jong-un was “brain dead”. Even though the journalist deleted the tweet later and stating that the information was done “out of an abundance of caution’. Social media is ubiquitous with perpetual contact online. Users can share the news within a second.
How to verify the news?
Audiences should always check for OFFICIAL news updates and be alert to every online information. In this case, we can verify its authenticity by browsing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It is the only North Korea news agency that publishes local news. Therefore, we should be aware of the origin of photos and videos on social media.
References
Ha, Y. (2020, May 06). Video claiming Kim Jong Un's death spreads in North Korea. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.dailynk.com/english/video-claiming-kim-jong-uns-death-spreads-north-korea/
The Spectator Index. (2020, April 21). UPDATE: NBC News correspondent Katy Tur deletes Tweet reporting that North Korea's leader is brain dead and says it was done out of an 'abundance of caution'. pic.twitter.com/T4SpjD8LIC. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1252421357398134784
York, C. (2020, April 21). North Korea's Kim Jong Un 'Not Brain Dead Or Gravely Ill', Says South Korea. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/north-koreas-kim-jong-un_uk_5e9e8caac5b63c5b5873d735?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS5oay8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMZQlPJjLmvTDGg3LAu8DHq-WJdzAh1Yh6E-vo-0sVtUEZxdST3UpvDodfTuLWSSkCdjnAQss24qyBLjPXP7Sy6oofDS0alHfYypcVYU2yVIHZHtvuOOwaJkYIE_kBQYq-m4oz6HvutJYGr71lf-7wz0pOh-pZNtJifk8jLOBkz6
【假影片】金正恩委員長死去？謠言！剪接2011金正日葬禮片段. (2020, April 23). Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.mygopen.com/2020/04/kim-jong-un.html