Kim Jong-un hit the headlines this week when rumours spread that the North Korean leader had died. It was believed that heart surgery to fit a stent had gone wrong and that he passed away on the operating table. Theories that he died or was “gravely ill” disseminated far and wide, reinforced by reports that the doctor conducting this complex and highly risky surgery “botched” the operation because of his “shaking hands”. These beliefs were further exacerbated by North Korean officials who did not deny the allegations and kept quiet about Kim Jong-un’s whereabouts. But the leader reemerged on Friday (May 1), after he was pictured at a ceremony for a fertiliser factory in Sunchon, his first public appearance in 20 days and since the allegations began. North Korea is known to be a highly secretive nation, that operates under the cover of extreme isolation and privacy, where little is known about the goings on inside the state. This extreme level of secrecy has been witnessed for decades, even before Kim Jong-un came to prominence, during his father Kim Jong-il’s rule. One of many classified missions conducted by the state included a top secret mission to take the future leader to Disneyland in Tokyo, Japan.