2011 Video of Kim Jong-Un’s Father Passed Off as His Own Funeral
Amid speculations, a viral video falsely claimed that it shows exclusive footage of the funeral on Kim Jong-Un.
The rumours about North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s health began to swirl after he missed the 15 April commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
Amid the speculations, a viral video falsely claimed that it shows exclusive footage of the funeral of Kim Jong-Un. Rather, it is a 2011 video which shows the body of his father, Kim Jong Il lying at a palace.
CLAIM
A viral video shows a body lying in the centre of a hall, which is being claimed to be that of Kim Jong-Un. Several people can be seen crying and paying their respects to the person seen in the video.
Several social media users have shared the video on Twitter and Facebook with the same claim.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We searched on YouTube using keywords “Kim Jong-Un funeral” and found a video uploaded by ABC News in 2011 with the caption: “Kim Jong-Il Dead: N Korea Really Mourning?”
At 0:29 seconds into the video, we can see that the visuals seen in the viral video are the same as that of the one shared in 2011.
We then searched using keywords “Kim Jong-Il funeral” and found a video uploaded by AP archive in 2015, mentioning that the video is from 20 December 2011 and that the body seen in the video is of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Il, who is Kim Jong-Un’s father.
From 01:53 minutes onwards, there are several visuals that are the same as the one seen in the viral video. For instance, the below image shows same people entering the venue in the same order in both the videos.
Visuals seen at 02:14 minutes into the AP video also match the ones seen in the viral video.
South Korea's government, on 27 April, dismissed rumours that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is in fragile condition, as speculation about his health intensifies amid the North's silence on his whereabouts.
Kim Jong-Un is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and he hadn't missed the event, one of the most important in the country, since assuming power after his father's death in late 2011.
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