Kim Jong Un memes storm the internet amid Iran-US war

As the world focused on conflicts in the Middle East, social media humorously depicted North Korea's Kim Jong Un as a curious observer missing out on the action

As the Middle East conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran dominated global headlines, social media has unexpectedly found comic relief in an unlikely figure, North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Memes portrayed Kim Jong Un eagerly looking forward to joining the conflict, which offered a light-hearted take on a serious geopolitical crisis. (X)

Across platforms like X and Instagram, the leader has become the subject of viral memes portraying him as a curious bystander watching the escalating crisis from afar.

In many posts circulating online, Kim is shown staring through binoculars, watching for a missile trail in the sky, or glued to a television screen, waiting for an opportunity to enter the conflict.

One popular meme showed him looking happy when a missile supposedly landed in North Korea by accident, captioned, “Kim Jong Un when one missile mistakenly lands in North Korea.”

Another showed him asking his sub-ordinates to “refresh” a screen to see if missiles were headed in their direction.

Another popular one showed him celebrating at the prospect of a missile, which later turns out to be a shooting star, captioned, “Kim Jung Un when he sees something like a missile across the sky but it turns out to be a shooting star.”

Another post showed a man resorting to punches with the caption, “Kim jong un after the USA refuse to let North Korea join the war.”

One more similar meme showed him asking "That one looks like missile right?", while another man replies, “No sir, it's a bird.”

A popular video also made rounds on social media, simply captioned, “Poor Kim Jong Un, they don't let him to play.”

Another video showed a compilation of moments where the leader appeared sad, or crying, titled, “Let's start a war and not tell Kim Jong Un.

"Netanyahu said "Iran is 50 North Koreas" and now Kim Jong Un's hopped on his rocket in "challenge accepted hold my soju" mode. Bro's probably waiting for an "invite" before he hits the nuclear button," one more post stated.

The humour largely plays on the contrast between Kim’s reputation for frequent weapons tests and his absence from the current geopolitical showdown. North Korea has conducted dozens of missile launches in recent years, often grabbing global attention. With the spotlight now firmly on the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States, internet users jokingly suggested that Kim might be experiencing “FOMO”, fear of missing out, despite having what some memes described as the “best toys for war.”

The meme wave comes amid serious developments in the region, including a large-scale military campaign targeting Iranian facilities and retaliatory missile and drone strikes across parts of the Gulf. The conflict has caused thousands of casualties.

Yet, as often happens during major global events, social media has turned to humour as a way to process the tension.