Following speculation about North Korean head of state Kim Jong-un's allegedly ailing health, new reports, as yet unverified, suggest that he might actually be dead.
According to the New York Post, vice director of HKSTV Hong Kong Satellite Television claimed that Kim was dead, citing a "very solid source", while Japanese weekly Shukan Gendai claimed that Kim is in a "vegetative state" after undergoing heart surgery earlier this month.
And yet other unconfirmed reports, "attributed to senior party sources in Beijing", allege that "an operation to insert a stent went wrong because the surgeon’s hands were shaking so badly".
But while it's hard to tell if there's any truth to these claims, many social media users proceeded to crack jokes on the occasion, with hashtag #KIMJONGUNDEAD emerging among the Twitter trends.
Some netizens joked about the conduct of doctors during that hypothetical situation.
A number of users made references to the American action comedy film “The Interview” whose premise involved an assassination plot against Kim.
And there were also those who brought US President Donald Trump into the equation.
At least one person remarked that Kim may be well and might even be having a good laugh at the expense of the people currently making jokes.