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North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has died after his health declined following heart surgery earlier this month, according to a reporter in China.

Hong Kong-backed news channel HKSTV's vice director Qing Feng, who's apparently the niece of a former Chinese foreign minister, posted the news on Chinese messaging app Weibo.

The woman put the report on the social media app for her nearly 15 million followers to read, citing a "very solid source".

Other unconfirmed reports, attributed to senior party sources in Beijing, said an operation to insert a stent into his heart went wrong because "the surgeon’s hands were shaking so badly".

The country is notoriously secretive, so his condition remains a mystery and is so far unconfirmed.

He was initially reported to be in "grave danger" following surgery on Tuesday (April 21).

Kim was last seen in public on April 11 as he took part in a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Reports in Japan from earlier in the day on Saturday said that Kim is in a "vegetative" state.

The last time North Korea state media announced the passing of their leader, it was more than 48 hours after the death.

A train probably belonging to Kim Jong Un has been parked at the Leadership Railway Station servicing his Wonsan compound since at least April 21, according to commercial satellite imagery, 38 North reports.

The train’s presence lends weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast.

The approximately 250-meter long train can be seen at a railway station reserved for use by the Kim family.

It is also reported that his sister could be even more ruthless than her brother - and is lying in wait to seize power if he dies after being struck him down by a mystery illness.

If Kim is dead, she may have to vie with the head of the bureau that oversees the Korean People’s Army Choe Ryong-hae for the top job.

Choe is one Kim’s closest friends and is almost family to the dictator.

With Kim's state health still not officially having been confirmed by the country, all eyes are on Saturday's celebrations marking the founding of the Korean People's Army in 1932.

Kim would normally make an appearance at the celebration event and international reporters on the ground say if Kim was okay and not on death's doorstep, he and his team would figure out a way for him to show up to squash the rumours.