World leaders are paying tribute to Dolly Parton. Is North Korea’s Kim Jong Un one of them?

A rumor that Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un paid tribute to the country music star Dolly Parton at the summit of Mount Paektu spread after Parton’s death in August 2026.

For example, the X account @DPRK_News posted (archived) an image of Kim standing on a snowy mountaintop and wrote, “Fond memories of dear friend Dolly Parton immortalized from summit of Mt Paektu.”

Fond memories of dear friend Dolly Parton immortalized from summit of Mt Paektu. pic.twitter.com/fuUE0K9UGa

— DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) August 25, 2026

The story spread as other present and former world leaders and musicians paid tribute to Parton online. Some social media users (archived, archived, archived) seemed to interpret @DPRK_News’ post as an authentic message from the North Korean government. Snopes readers contacted us to investigate the rumor’s legitimacy.

The rumor came from the @DPRK_News X account. That account carries a “Parody Account” label, which X has said applies to accounts that “discuss, satirize or share information.” 

The known parody account has previously convinced several large media outlets to report on its posts as genuine communications from North Korea. Therefore, we find this claim was labeled satire.

The photo the page used in its post of Kim looking out over a snowy landscape was authentic but presented out of context. It came from a December 2019 news release about Kim climbing Mount Paektu, the highest peak in North Korea. 

We did not find evidence in searches on DuckDuckGo, Google or Yahoo that Kim publicly paid tribute to Parton following her death (archived, archived, archived). Given the juxtaposition of North Korea’s cultural isolation and Parton’s global fame, reputable news sources would have reported on Kim’s tribute if it were real.

The @DPRK_News X account contained other fictitious stories related to North Korea. Some were blatantly false. Others played on current news events, such as a claim that North Korea had entered a trade agreement with Canada. 

The account’s writers, identified as “Patrick Popehat” and “Derrick Popehat” (the two also wrote for the now-defunct blog Popehat) reportedly told Newsweek in 2014 that @DPRK_News’ posts were inspired by the real North Korean state news agency and rhetoric used in Soviet newspapers.

For further reading, Snopes has previously investigated other claims about North Korea.

Since the effectiveness of satire is subjective, we use “originated as satire” or “labeled satire” ratings based on creators’ description of their work. It’s your call on whether you agree.

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