Feb. 7, 2012: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, salutes when he visited Unit 158 of the navy of the North Korean People's Army. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)
A team of trained ninja assassins snuck into North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's room overnight and assassinated the new leader while he was on a business trip in Beijing -- if rumors spreading across microblogging service Twitter and its Chinese counterpart Weibo are to be believed, that is.
The rumors -- unsubstantiated by any major news service or government agency -- started on the Chinese language Twitter clone earlier today, claiming Jong-Un had been killed in his residence.
“According to reliable sources, North Korean leader [Kim Jong-Un was killed] in Beijing in February 10 2012, at 2 o'clock and 45 minutes. Unknown persons broke into his residence shot and were subsequently shot and killed by the bodyguard,” one Tweet claimed.
No new photo of the leader of the reclusive country has emerged -- at least none picked up by the popular tumblr blog Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things.
The news spread like wildfire across Twitter as well as Weibo -- and quickly become fodder for jokes.
“Hearing unconfirmed reports that Kim Jong-Un is the new England manager,” wrote a journalist with London paper The Sun.
“BREAKING: Kim Jong-Un death confirmed, now registered to vote in Chicago,” wrote a Washington Times correspondent.
Other Twitter users were quick to urge caution.
“Wait for confirmation on Kim Jong-Un death rumors. Twitter is also reporting that ‘Jonas Brothers are the best band,’” wrote one Twitter user.
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